Positive balance

This time a Halloween without problems in Upper Austria

(Bild: Yuri Smityuk / Tass / picturedesk.com)

Trick or treat! On Halloween night this year, Upper Austrians concentrated on collecting sweets. The emergency services reported hardly any special incidents or incidents. One curious case kept the fire department in Linz busy.

Trick or treat? While the Halloween riots in Linz two years ago were "trick or treat" for the emergency services, this year, fortunately, it was "sweet". Many of our compatriots still think back to 2022 with a shudder - and not because the costumes were particularly scary back then, but because more than 100 young people turned the high street into a veritable battlefield.

A few outliers
Since then, the emergency services have prepared particularly meticulously and conscientiously for Halloween night. And last year, it was already clear that the measures had been effective. Apart from a few troublemakers, the party night was mostly peaceful throughout the province. This year, the emergency organizations were also able to draw a positive balance - with a few outliers.

Eight garbage bin fires
"On Halloween night, there were eight garbage bin fires between around 6pm and 11pm. The operations were all necessary in the south of Linz in the area between Neue Heimat and Pichling," says Michael Raml (FPÖ), fire department officer and city councillor for safety. In this context, however, he emphasizes that these are "no trivial offences": "Once again, emergency services have been exposed to danger completely unnecessarily, because every fire operation involves a risk for the emergency services."

Stuck in handcuffs
The fire department in the state capital was also involved in a curious incident. A teenager handcuffed his friend for fun. However, he pulled them so tight that his hands swelled up. As the handcuffs could no longer be opened, the fire department had to arrive with bolt cutters.

„Krone“-Kommentar

Brauchtum oder unnötig?

Some people love it, others don't care at all: Halloween divides opinion. But for children in particular, it's fun to dress up, stay up a little late and go from house to house with their parents and friends - always on the lookout for the best sweets.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV, Alexander Schwarzl, Markus Wenzel)

The fact that this tradition was abused by young people two years ago and it escalated completely on Linzer Landstraße is more than sad. So it's all the better that this year the emergency services were able to draw a positive balance and the children were able to bag their sweets peacefully.