Aleksandar S. (52) at Oktoberfest: Human Error Suspected

The wife of Aleksandar S., 52, the Serbian security guard who died at Munich’s Oktoberfest on September 21, travels to Munich today. She is bringing her husband’s burial suit and going to the site where he was killed, while German police say the “Hangover” ride was not technically faulty and that human error is now the most likely explanation.

Aleksandar S., originally from the area around Belgrade, was working his first Oktoberfest this year as a member of the festival’s security staff. He died on Monday, September 21, at around 10 p.m., when a gondola from the “Hangover” ride fell on him in the festival’s amusement park. According to Kurir and Mondo, the gondola fell from a height of roughly 80 meters at a speed of about 100 kilometers per hour. Mondo adds that at the moment of the accident he was in a part of the structure that is off limits to both visitors and staff. He suffered a fractured spine and skull and died of his injuries in the hospital.

The family has lived in Germany for six years. His wife told Kurir that the period following the tragedy has been the hardest the family has faced, and that on top of the grief, they now face the many obligations of organizing a funeral in a foreign country.

Today we are going to Munich, we’re bringing his clothes so he can be dressed, and then I will go with the children and his colleagues to the place where the tragedy happened, to pay our respects. I am going one last time to see his body, and I don’t know how I will bear it.

Aleksandar’s wife told Kurir. She added that friends have organized a memorial gathering, and that people from the local community have been helping the family find their way through everything in a country that is not their own.

She spoke with difficulty about the injuries her husband suffered.

His spine was broken, and his skull too. Neither the children nor I wanted to see him like that. I would have died if I had seen him in that state. We wanted to remember him the way he was.

The victim’s wife said, also speaking to Kurir.

Aleksandar’s son had earlier said he tried to talk his father out of taking the Oktoberfest job, fearing what might happen to him.

I warned my dad before he went to work as a security guard. I told him: “Dad, don’t go to Oktoberfest, it’s a bad place to work.” We were afraid he could get hurt by drunk people.

His son said. According to him, his father still wanted the job, to earn money for the family. “It was his first assignment at Oktoberfest. Unfortunately, it ended in tragedy,” his son added.

Speaking to a German outlet, the son also explained why he believes his father entered the restricted part of the structure. “No one is allowed to go into that part, because it’s off limits for safety reasons. But maybe someone had dropped their glasses or their phone, and my dad wanted to pick it up,” he said.

German police opened an investigation after the accident. Early findings show that the “Hangover” ride was not technically faulty and that human error is now considered the most likely cause, according to local German media. Police have asked members of the public who filmed the accident on their phones to submit any footage they have.

Festival organizers said after the accident that the “Hangover” ride had reopened to visitors, after it was determined not to pose a danger. A festival spokesperson said the accident still weighs heavily on the entire team, and that their thoughts are with the family and friends of the man who died.

Srpske Novine previously reported on the accident itself, in the article “Serbian security guard, 52, dies at Oktoberfest after being struck by falling gondola.”