16 July: Police arrest late-night balcony chemist; Reihen squatters needn’t pay for police eviction; 5 escape unhurt from wrecked car

Police in Klein-Basel have arrested a man after finding him mixing hydrochloric acid and other chemicals on his balcony in the dead of night.

It was just before midnight last night when a neighbour got a whiff of irritating fumes coming from the next door. When he looked over, he saw the man mixing the chemicals in a bucket. Later the neighbour to be taken to hospital suffering from dizziness and eye irritation.

Police say than when they arrived, the smell was so harsh that the fire brigade was also called out. When challenged, the man explained that he was making a special cleaning mixture. The police weren’t disposed to believe this explanation, however, and decided to take the late night chemist off to the police station to think up a better explanation.

The street was closed off for two hours while extractors removed the last of the fumes.

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Local politicians are furious at a decision that 17 squatters in Riehen won’t have to pay for the police operation needed to throw them out of the premises. Meanwhile, the unwanted tenants say they plan to just hop from one empty house to another until the authorities get tired of moving them on.

For their part, these same authorities refuse to put a price on the eviction operation, although sources close to the police say the cost of mobilising some 30 officers for the action that lasted a number of hours won’t leave much change out of 10 thousand francs.

The operation rolled into action after the owner lodged a legal complaint. In the event, the squatters packed everything up before the police ultimatum became due. They will have to pay a joint fine plus expenses, but the main sticking point – the cost of the police action – which the police could legally stick with the squatters - is likely to be picked up instead by tax-payers.

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At around 7pm on Sunday evening fire brigades from the three French communities of St. Louis, Leymen and Oltingue were called to help a man who injured himself at the picturesque tourist spot - the Castle Landskron in Alsace, close to Flüh.

The 41 year old was hurt while descending a flight of steep stairs leading down to one of the dungeons at the historical site. Fire officers managed to carry the injured man out of the castle and then transport him to hospital in Altkirch.

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On Friday a wannabe boy racer was spotted by police gunning his car over the Johanniterbrücke at 111 kilometres per hour. As everyone knows, the speed limit on the bridge, as in most parts of town is a sedate 50 kilometres an hour.

Anyway, the long arm of the law managed to stop the 23 year old when he got to the other end of the bridge where he – guess what - instantly lost his license and is now looking forward to explaining his actions in court where he faces charges of reckless driving.

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The A2 motorway near Arisdorf witnessed a spectacular accident on Monday morning when the 73 year-old driver of a car containing 5 people had a moment’s doze, hit the central crash barrier, careered to the other side of the carriageway, shot through a fence, rolled over a number of times before finally hitting a tree some 70 metres further on and coming to a halt upside down.

All of the occupants were able to get out of the car. By some miracle, four were totally unhurt, with the fifth suffering only slight injuries - needing a short hospital visit to put right.

The accident happened at about 9.40 a.m. as the car was driving in the direction of Basel.

The fire brigade needed to bring a crane in to remove the completely wrecked car, leading to long motorway delays.

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