Overview
- Local emergency services said crews were alerted at about 16:45 on Thursday, July 16, 2026, and later confirmed three people died after a fall from the Harzturm in Altenau.
- Firefighters and police sealed off the scene, set up privacy screens, and the county crisis intervention team is supporting people at the site.
- Authorities have not yet established how the fall happened and an official investigation and further statements are pending.
- The Harzturm is a 65 metre wood‑steel observation tower with two viewing platforms, a 45 metre glass‑floor Skywalk, stairs and an elevator, a 110 metre slide, a restaurant and a shop, and it opened after delays in November 2023 with roughly €1.4 million in state and federal support.
- The deaths are likely to prompt safety reviews and scrutiny of operations and funding as the local community and visitors await investigators' findings and information for victims' families.