Steel Beam Incident

The Steel Beam Incident was the pivotal event of the series, occurring some time in September in the 20th Ward.

Involved Parties

 * Ken Kaneki - Victim
 * Rize Kamishiro - Victim
 * Souta - Responsible Party
 * Akihiro Kanou - Surgeon
 * Taguchi - Nurse and Co-conspirator

The Incident
After their date, Rize Kamishiro tricked Ken Kaneki into escorting her down an isolated alleyway near a construction site. There, she revealed herself to be a Ghoul and attacked him with the intention of devouring him. He was critically injured in the attack, but survived when steel beams dropped on Rize and crushed her.

Aftermath
The accident drew the attention of passersby, who called for emergency services to help the victims. Kaneki and Rize would both be sent to Kanou General Hospital, where they became the patients of Dr. Akihiro Kanou. Reporting that the girl was already deceased, he transplanted Rize's Kakuhou into Kaneki and turned him into an One-Eyed Ghoul. The unauthorized transplant drew considerable media attention, and Dr. Kanou faced heavy criticism for performing an organ transplant without permission from the families of his patients.

Itori hinted that someone had been seen at the construction site, and that Rize had actually been murdered. This drove Kaneki to seek the truth about the incident, looking for both Rize's past and Dr. Kanou for several months. He would eventually learn that Rize had survived, and was being used by Dr. Kanou for further experimentation.

During the finale of the series, a critically-wounded Kaneki recalled having seen the Clown Souta at the scene of the accident.