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February 4, 2012
Fire brigade bills fairground ride victims for rescue
Published: 16 Nov 09 12:07 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20091116-23303.html
Fourteen people rescued by the fire brigade after being left dangling upside down from a Berlin fairground ride last summer for nearly an hour have been slapped with a hefty bill, a spokesman said Monday.
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Finally saved after 44 long minutes, each person must now pay €281.43 ($420) after their ordeal.
Thorsten W., 39, who was on the ride with his wife and child, told the Bild daily: "We have been punished enough. Our son never wants to go on a carousel
again. And now we have to pay almost €850? Never!"
The operator of the ride refuses to pay because they didn't call the emergency services, and were capable of rescuing the 14 people themselves, Bild said.
"We didn't call the fire brigade ... We didn't need any help, and therefore we will not cover these costs," Ron Agtsch told the paper.
Stefan Fleischer, a spokesman for the Berlin fire service, defended the decision to send out bills, but said that the fire service was now looking into the affair.
"This is not the fire brigade being cheeky or nasty. We performed a service, and ... the people rescued are now being billed," Fleischer told AFP.
He added that the people have the possibility to claim back the costs from their insurance firms, or to sue the operator.
AFP (news@thelocal.de)
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Your comments about this article:
But really, I think it is fair for the emergency services to charge people to recover the cost of fuel. However, the ride operator should pay the costs. Especially if it still took 44 minutes to rescue people from the ride.