FIRE IN EX SQUATTED HOUSE.
In the ex squatted house in the Rigaerstrasse 80 in Friedrichshain a fire started at around 5.30pm on 20th October 1997! The house was squatted for 7 years and evicted on the 29.july 1997. The owner had yesterday done some cleanup work. The reason for the fire was not yet established! Witnesses spoke about lots of smoke and traffic chaos on the nearby main road!
On July 29, 1997, three squats in East Berlin were evicted during a massive police operation. The three houses, all of which had been squatted for seven years, were the Rigaerstrasse 80 and the Scharnweberstrasse 28 in Friedrichshain, and the Pfarrstrasse 88 in Lichtenberg. Around 500 riot cops took part in the evictions, which began at 6:30 in the morning when the squatters were all still asleep. Some SEK special police units with machine guns were dropped by helicopter onto the roofs of the houses. You would have thought the squats were home to Red Army Fraction (RAF) or something! Most of the squatters were released from custody after their identities were checked, but 5 people were detained, 3 because they weren’t privileged enough to carry German passports. The houses were all sealed up shortly after the evictions to prevent renewed squatting attempts. [Read More]
