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Photo: Patrick Seeger/ picture alliance/dpa

At 1:28 a.m., the emergency call was received by the fire department: At least two people had been injured in a fall at the Hotel Estrel on Sonnenallee, it said.

Since the evening, hundreds of high school graduates, friends and relatives had celebrated in event halls near the hotel building. According to the police's initial findings, two 17-year-old high school graduates from the Rosa-Luxemburg-Gymnasium in Berlin-Pankow climbed a ladder onto a flat roof next to the party room and fell eight meters into the depths.

According to police, a plastic skylight gave way among the young people. The hotel said the students had "sat on a plastic canopy. The hatch collapsed under the weight of the two«.

Four ambulances and two emergency doctors

A teenager fell on some containers, which slowed down his fall, so that he was less injured. They may have been garbage cans, according to police. The second victim was critically injured by the impact on the ground.

Immediately, many helpers rushed in, including adults from the school and hotel staff, said a fire department spokesman. They would have started with measures to resuscitate. The slightly injured companion is also said to have helped, according to a report in the "Bild" newspaper.

Shortly thereafter, the fire brigade arrived at the scene of the accident with four ambulances and two emergency doctors. An emergency doctor continued the resuscitation measures. Paramedics drove both teenagers to hospitals. The girl died from her severe injuries.

Five other people, adolescents and adults, were so in shock that they had to be cared for. The emergency pastoral care took care of them.

How exactly it came to the fall, has not yet been conclusively clarified, said a police spokeswoman. According to the hotel, the accident area was actually not accessible to guests. According to the police, there are no indications of third-party negligence. Out of consideration for the family of the dead girl, there should be no detailed information about the people involved and the course of the accident.

The affected Rosa-Luxemburg-Gymnasium, a well-known school in the north of Berlin, spoke on Monday of "infinite grief". The website stated: "Days of joy ended abruptly. No answer. Pain that goes deep and will not go away. Our thoughts are with the young woman's family and with all the graduates.«

Berlin's Senator for Education, Katharina Günther-Wünsch (CDU), was also "deeply dismayed" by the accident. My condolences go out to the family, the relatives and the school community. The exact circumstances must now be clarified."

There was also consternation in the hotel: "A graduation ball is a joy and a special celebration at the end of school. The fact that such an event is overshadowed by this tragic incident makes the employees and management of the Estrel Berlin very sad.«

In addition to several hundred rooms, the hotel also has large event halls where concerts take place and shows where lookalikes of well-known world stars perform. On Monday morning, only a display with an emblem of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Gymnasium, the note "Abi RLG 2023" and an arrow to the entrance to the party reminded of what was happening.

ala/dpa