Tragic death in Friedland: 16-year-old pushed against train? Investigations are ongoing!

Tragic death in Friedland: 16-year-old pushed against train? Investigations are ongoing!

On August 11, 2023, a shocking event occurred at Friedland train station in the Göttingen district: a 16-year-old died under tragic circumstances. A 31-year-old man of Iraqi nationality is suspected of having pushed the teenager against a passing freight train. DNA traces of the suspect were found on the victim's shoulder, which led to the arrest, as the Borkener Zeitung reports.

Initially, the police believed it was an accident because the teenager was said to have been hit by a train. But the investigation took a different turn when the suspect, who already had a history of paranoid schizophrenia, was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. On the day of the crime he showed psychological abnormalities and had a breath alcohol test of 1.35 per mille.

The process and the investigation

One of the central questions that arise is the unclear sequence of events at the train station. Before the crime, the police were alerted about a man rioting. The suspect then led the officers to the place where the 16-year-old was found lifeless and denied any involvement in the crime. Despite his aggressive behavior after his release from custody, there was initially not enough to charge him. It is tragic that the investigation has to do without video evidence, as there are no surveillance cameras at the station, which makes it difficult to clarify the exact processes.

Only after the DNA traces were found did the evidence against the suspect become concrete. A detention order for manslaughter was issued at the request of the public prosecutor. The parents of the deceased are particularly affected, as they expressed doubts about the official accident report early on. The case has sparked an outpouring of grief and appeals for donations have been launched to help with the funeral costs of the deceased teenagers. So far, over 14,000 euros have been raised.

Asylum procedures and political reactions

The suspect had been in Germany since 2022 and applied for asylum in the summer of 2022, which was rejected in December 2022. A further application for detention pending deportation was rejected by the Hanover District Court in July 2025, although deportation to Lithuania would have been possible since March 2025. Lower Saxony's Interior Minister Behrens is now calling for a detailed examination of the case, which is seen as an example of the challenges of the Dublin Procedure, which regulates the distribution of asylum seekers in Europe regulates.

The population is greatly affected. Numerous flowers and candles bloom at Friedland train station in memory of the deceased young person, who fled Ukraine in 2022 and most recently commuted to her training facility every day. The police continue to warn against false reports on social media that only add to the situation unnecessarily.