Particle.news

Download on the App Store

Organizers Send Cease-and-Desist to Kachelmann After Hail Forces Hückelhoven Festival Evacuation

Organizers pressed their legal challenge after hail injured visitors minutes after the first official storm warning

Image

Overview

  • On May 31, a sudden hailstorm at the 'Jeck in de City' festival in Hückelhoven forced evacuation after eleven of the 5,500 attendees were lightly injured
  • Electrisize GmbH says its safety concept included weather risks and that the first critical warning arrived at 19:05, just three minutes before the storm hit
  • Meteorologist Jörg Kachelmann asserts severe weather was detectable by 17:55 and that the festival should have been suspended well before the hailstorm
  • Festival organizers have demanded Kachelmann retract his claims that they prioritized profits over visitor safety and instructed him to issue a cease-and-desist declaration
  • Heinsberg police report no investigation is under way because none of the injured attendees has filed a complaint