The investigation opened to determine possible criminal liability in the formation of an outbreak of Covid-19 contamination in the Austrian Alps in March 2020 has been closed, the Innsbruck prosecutor's office told AFP on Wednesday, November 24.
Read also Ischgl, the very chic Austrian ski resort which has accelerated the spread
"
There will be no indictment
" against the five responsible officials, explained the prosecutor Hansjörg Mayr. "
There is no evidence that someone has done or failed to do something that has increased the risk of contagion,
" said the prosecution in a statement.
Five regional officials were targeted by the investigation in Tyrol, justice seeking to know if they could avoid the formation of a cluster at the very beginning of the pandemic. This decision "
has no impact
" on the civil complaints filed elsewhere by a consumer association which brings together the procedures. The first trial opened in September. About fifteen complaints are listed. More than 6,000 people from 45 countries claim that they or their relatives have been infected in the Ischgl station or the surrounding area due to negligence and chaotic management. A total of 32 people died.
According to a report of independent experts, a first alert issued on March 5 by Iceland, which was alarmed at the return of contaminated travelers to Ischgl, was ignored. Skiers continued to crowd into the cable car cabins, while the evening party was in full swing in the valleys. "
On March 8, it was clearly established that the tourist staff of Ischgl had contracted the virus, but this time again the reaction was too weak, too slow, too late
", denounced during the first trial one of the lawyers of the VSV consumer association which brings together the procedures. He felt that everything had been done to minimize the gravity of the situation and allow the season to continue as if nothing had happened, for fear of thefinancial impact for "
the influential
»Tyrolean tourist sector.
Read alsoScandale d'Ischgl: the management of the pandemic before the courts in Austria
A few days later, Conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz decreed local lockdown and asked thousands of tourists to leave the scene within hours, which victims and their loved ones said precipitated the disaster.