A false alarm at the Hardtbergbad led to a large-scale fire brigade operation early on Sunday morning. According to Jörg Schneider, head of operations at the scene, a chlorine gas measuring system had gone off at around four o'clock. As a result, the fire brigade units of fire station I and Duisdorf, the dangerous goods unit of fire station III and four units of the volunteer fire brigade were called out.

The units were assisted on site by the manager of the Hardtberg swimming pool. However, measurements by the fire brigade could not detect any leakage of chlorine gas, so that the forces were able to leave again quite quickly. As a precaution, all chlorine gas cylinders were turned off.

(Original text: Michael Wrobel and Petra Reuter)

Two men were seriously injured in an accident on the A3 on Saturday afternoon. According to the police, at around 5.30 p.m. their SUV skidded due to aquaplaning near the Siebengebirge junction and overturned several times.

The two occupants were initially attended to by other motorists until first responders arrived at the scene of the accident. The crew of a rescue vehicle was eventually able to free the driver and his passenger. They were taken to the hospital in Siegburg and to the university hospital in Bonn.

While the injured were being treated and the accident was being investigated, two lanes were closed by the Sankt Augustin fire department, who also ensured fire protection and cleaned the roadways. The closure was lifted again at around 7 p.m.

(Original text: Michael Wrobel and Ralf Klodt)

For as yet unknown reasons, a man and a woman crashed their Golf on the L330 near Königswinter-Bennerscheid on Saturday evening. The two passengers were seriously injured and had to be taken to hospital.

The vehicle was on the L330 driving towards Oberpleis at around 10.30 p.m. when it left the road in a left-hand bend, ran into a grassy area and overturned. The Golf then came to rest on its roof.

Two ambulances, an emergency doctor and firefighters from Uthweiler and Eudenbach rushed to the scene of the accident. The two injured persons were treated by the rescue services at the scene and then taken to hospital.

The L330 was completely closed at Neuglückstraße while the accident was being investigated and the injured were being treated.

(Original test: Michael Wrobel and Ralf Klodt)

Things got frighteningly unusual in Euskirchen at 7.30 p.m. on Friday evening: several manhole covers on the Rüdesheimer Ring suddenly flew up into the air out of their sockets.

On Saturday morning, the Euskirchen police announced that they had reason to believe that three men aged 33, 46 and 62 could be connected to the incident. They suspect that the men discharged hazardous substances into the sewage system from a nearby block of garages.

As reported, on Friday evening, the spokesperson of the Euskirchen fire department, Daniel Schwarz, thought the reason was that a neighbour had failed in their attempt to extinguish a fire, leading to a large quantity of petrol to flow into the sewage system and cause a chemical reaction.

In the evening, a specialist company flushed the sewerage system to pump out any remaining petrol. No gas leakages were detected. The residents of three apartment buildings were evacuated for the duration of the operation. The fire brigade gave the all-clear in the evening, so that the residents could return to their homes at about 10.15 pm.

According to initial information, no one was injured. The Rüdesheimer Ring was closed around the accident site until 11.40 pm. The police are now determining whether the three men were involved in the incident.

From 1 October, only substitute buses will be used on the section of tram number 16 between Wesseling and Tannenbusch. This is because of construction work on the tracks. In this section, Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln AG is replacing railway sleepers that show strong signs of wear, the company's press officer, Christian Lorenz, told the GA.

As a replacement service, regular buses will be used from 3 a.m. on Saturday 1 October to around the same time on Monday 10 October. The respective replacement stops will be near the regular train stops, says Christian Lorenz.

(Original text: Felizia Schug)

According to a new survey, every fourth person in Germany is afraid of having to go to hospital - more than in the worst times of the Coronavirus pandemic. In 2020 and 2021, when many operations were being cancelled or postponed, 17 and 19 per cent respectively of those surveyed were afraid of hospitalisation, according to the KKH Kaufmännische Krankenkasse in Hanover on Saturday.

Women were more likely to voice fears of having to go to hospital than men, according to the Forsa survey commissioned by the KKH. Before the Coronavirus pandemic, however, as many as 29 per cent of those surveyed had concerns about being hospitalised.

From 1 to 4 August, the market research institute Forsa conducted a representative survey of 1002 people aged 18 to 70 across Germany on their concerns about a possible hospital stay. In July 2019, 1002 people were surveyed, in August 2020 it was 1001 and finally in July 2021, 1376 people. According to its own information, KKH is one of the largest nationwide statutory health insurers with around 1.6 million insured.

KKH CEO: Reforms necessary

"During the Coronavirus pandemic, our health system performed well. The care of covid sufferers has shown that the clinics are able to react and cooperate flexibly and quickly," said KKH CEO Wolfgang Matz. Nevertheless, " reforms are more than necessary", he emphasised. "Many patients are perhaps now also aware of this."

Announcement

According to the survey, almost every second concerned respondent (47 percent) justified their fears of a hospital stay by saying they had heard bad things. As many as 46 per cent had already had a bad experience themselves. During the Coronavirus years 2020 and 2021, on the other hand, only one-third in each case had attributed their hospital fears to negative reports. "We absolutely have to take the patients' fears and experiences seriously," said Matz.