Because of pigeon droppings

Drivers trapped in underground parking garage for hours

Symbolic image

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/Zdena Venclik)

200 drivers needed a lot of patience in an underground parking garage in Stuttgart on Sunday night: all the garage doors were closed due to a faulty fire alarm - pigeon droppings had apparently caused a short circuit. The fire department had to cut open a door

The incident took place in the underground garage beneath the Kleiner Schlossplatz. "The circumstances were indeed quite wild," a spokesperson for the Stuttgart fire department told Bild. The firefighters should actually have been informed by a smoke alarm. "There was nothing, we were only called in by the police after two hours." The drivers had to wait three hours before they were freed. 

Trapped people filmed the rescue
"We weren't on site until around three o'clock, sawed open a gate and that was done after an hour. The people in the underground parking garage celebrated us firefighters," the spokesperson continued. Many of the trapped people had filmed as the cut-out part of the gate fell to the ground, allowing them to escape.

Pictures of the operation in the underground car park: 

Closing gate almost demolished BMW
Before the fire department arrived, some electricians, who also happened to be locked in the garage, had tried to fix the problem on the control box - but without success. One of the victims, who had previously visited a bar with friends, described some dramatic moments: "There were roller shutters to the left and right of our BMW. Suddenly, these doors also started to close. If our driver hadn't pushed the gate back through the open window, it would have demolished the car."

Victim demands lifelong parking rights
A female driver wants compensation after being caught by the defect. In a letter to the operator of the underground parking garage, she demanded lifelong parking rights in all of the company's German underground garages for all victims of the false alarm. There is only one employee who has the key for switching off the smoke alarm and unlocking the doors. However, he was unavailable for hours.