On Tuesday, the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of the Interior showed the previously unreleased police helicopter videos to journalists. You can see the three videos, which have been pixelated to protect people’s identity, in this article. The films show footage of the Ahr towns of Mayschoß to Schuld between 10.14pm and 10.43pm on the night of the flood on 14 July 2021.

The images had only recently been shown behind closed doors to the state parliament's investigative committee. Rhineland-Palatinate's Interior Minister Roger Lewentz (SPD) had come under pressure because of the videos. According to his own statements, however, he saw them for the first time on 23 September in the investigation committee when he was questioned for the second time.

The footage shows whole areas of land under water. There are also (pixelated) people on the roof of a garage and a car drifting through the water with the rear wiper and interior lights on. Waves crash against the windows of a house engulfed by floodwaters.

There was, however, no sign of any person floating in the water according to Christoph Semmelrogge, head of the Operations, Logistics and Technology Bureau, to which the helicopter squadron belongs. The police say the car was empty.

Semmelrogge and Koblenz police chief Karlheinz Maron say the videos had only recently surfaced because of a documentation error and a misunderstanding. They had only recently been discovered on the external hard drive of an employee of the helicopter squad, Semmelrogge said, stressing that it was never the intention to prevent them from being made accessible.

But he admits that "These should have been presented on 18 February." At that time, the investigative committee had already requested to see any further files, including possible footage of the situation. Details are now being clarified by the public prosecutor's office.

Original text: (dpa/ga)

Translation: Jean Lennox