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Peter Kloeppel: "I haven't seen it like this before"
Photo: Christian Charisius / dpa
There is a smiling man in front of the camera, it is dark around him and he bravely holds up his cell phone.
A little light comes out there.
The smiling man is called Peter Kloeppel and he has been moderating the news on RTL for several years.
His mission when the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 2001 will not be forgotten - not comparable - but this mission will also be unforgettable.
When the power went out in the studio, Kloeppel switched on the flashlight on his cell phone and simply continued to present the program “RTL Aktuell” on Sunday evening.
Now the transmitter named the cause of the power failure: It was a short circuit.
That said on Monday a spokeswoman for RTL in Cologne.
As a result, the electricity in the western part of the building failed.
The short circuit triggered smoke, which led to a fire alarm.
The spokeswoman emphasized that it was not a fire.
At no point was there any danger to the employees.
That became clear very quickly, and that is why the broadcast was continued.
Otherwise it would have been interrupted.
It was technically possible to send it on because the emergency power supply started immediately.
"Only the lighting in the studio could not be maintained." Moderator Peter Kloeppel had therefore continued to moderate with the light of his cell phone.
After the broadcast, Kloeppel wrote on Twitter: “I'm in the middle of a moderation and suddenly it turns buff - and the light was gone.
And at the same time, of course, when you're sitting in the studio, you think we're not broadcasting any more. ”Then he saw on the monitors that broadcast was still going on.
"So I thought to myself, I'll just keep going - and hope that the light will come on again sometime".
The résumé of the experienced moderator: "I haven't seen it like this before - and I don't need it every day."
kha / dpa