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The mayor of Göstling and community workers are investigated after the girl’s tragic death.
After a four-year-old boy was killed on Saturday in Mendlingtal in Göstling ad Ybbs (Scheibbs district) by a fir tree that was uprooted by the storm, the St. Pölten prosecutor’s office launched an investigation. These are directed against the mayor of Göstlinger Friedrich Fahrnberger (ÖVP) and against a community employee, the spokesman for the prosecutor, Leopold Bien, told the APA on Monday. It will be checked whether an accusation of negligence can be made.
The focus of the investigation is the launch of the adventure world on Saturday around 12 noon. The Mendling Valley had previously been closed due to the storm. “It will be necessary to clarify whether the release constitutes negligence or not,” Bien emphasized. The four-year-old was struck by the falling tree after the area was opened at around 1:45 p.m.
The municipality of Göstling acts as the operator of the world of adventure. Before the tourist destination is opened to visitors, a construction expert and a community representative or the operations manager conduct a safety inspection every day. During this, “we look at whether the walkways and bridges are stable and whether there are trees that need to be cut down,” Fahrnberger told ORF Lower Austria.
Such a tour also took place on Saturday. “Due to the wind situation, it was decided that we would be closed until noon and then reconsider the situation,” emphasized the mayor. “The wind has died down and in the end I made the decision to open up.” In retrospect, this decision worries him greatly: “I still don’t know how to deal with the situation.”
The Mendlingtal is currently closed, until further notice, as announced Monday on the website. “We’ll see how we go. Right now we are not in the position to think about it, right now something else is bothering us,” Fahrnberger was quoted as saying. It is becoming increasingly clear how powerful nature is and how quickly it reacts. “You are not immune to that, even if you take every precaution for something to happen,” said the local politician.
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