Three dead teenage girls.
At the foot of a 40 meter high observation tower.
The horrific discovery has shocked the town of Pforzheim in southwestern Germany.
– It is an incredible tragedy, says Bernhard Steger, principal of the school the girls attended.
Outside the cordon at the observation tower, three candles burn – for three dead girls.
It was there that a passer-by on Thursday night alerted the emergency services after discovering three lifeless teenagers. But their lives could not be saved.
An investigation is now underway to get answers to what actually happened.
– We currently have nothing that points to a crime having been committed, says Benjamin Koch, press spokesperson for the police in Pforzheim, who cannot rule out that it is a collective suicide.
“We are all shocked”
The discovery of the girls, who were between 13 and 14 years old, has affected many in the city.
Outside their school, people have left flowers and lit candles, and the German flag has flown at half-mast for days.
– All the colleagues I have spoken to have said that there was nothing about these girls that should have attracted our attention. That is why we are all so shocked, says the principal Bernhard Steger.
Requirements to dismantle the tower
After the deaths, voices have been raised to overhaul the observation tower in the city.
This year alone, twelve people have been found dead by it.
Local politicians have suggested that the stairs to the tower be removed, or that it be somehow impossible to climb it.
Some have expressed that they want the tower to be completely dismantled.
– I don’t think it’s worth more than a lost life, says local politician Markus Hieke, who represents the Christian Democratic CDU.