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Location of the incident in downtown Mannheim: A video shows how a police officer hit him in the head several times
Photo: René Priebe / dpa
During a police operation in Mannheim, a 47-year-old man collapsed and died shortly thereafter.
As the Baden-Württemberg State Criminal Police Office and the public prosecutor's office in Stuttgart and Mannheim announced, the police were informed by a doctor on Monday about a patient who needed help.
This was then found by officials together with the doctor at a crossroads in downtown Mannheim.
Since the man resisted, "immediate coercion" was used.
The 47-year-old then "collapsed" and "required resuscitation for an unknown reason."
The emergency services and the doctor present "initiated immediate first aid measures".
The man was therefore taken to the Mannheim University Clinic, where he finally died.
A video of the incident is circulating on Twitter
A video of part of the operation before the man collapsed circulated on Twitter.
There you can see a man lying on his stomach on the ground.
Two police officers are kneeling over him, they have crossed the man's arms behind his back, apparently to handcuff him.
The man writhes and screams.
As he comes up, one of the officers hits him twice in the head with his fist.
After that, the man still squirms and groans, but the officer can then apparently put handcuffs on him.
The message does not make it clear why the man needed help and why the police officers fixed him at all.
On Monday evening, DER SPIEGEL was unable to contact the relevant police and public prosecutor's office for questions.