Four people died in a Flixbus accident on Autobahn 9 near Leipzig. The coach was traveling from Berlin to Zurich when it left the road for an unknown reason. The A9 was temporarily completely closed.
- Four dead and more than 20 injured in coach accident on A9 near Leipzig
- Flixbus was traveling from Berlin to Zurich
- The A9 road has been reopened in the direction of Berlin since the afternoon
- Rescue work will probably last until the evening
No other vehicle involved in the accident
The accident occurred around 9:45 a.m. between the Wiedemar junction and the Schkeuditzer Kreuz. For an unknown reason, the double-decker bus veered off the road to the right in a straight line. The vehicle then raced for almost 100 meters across the grass verge, flattened bushes and small trees and finally tipped over on its side. No other vehicle was likely involved in the accident, a police spokesman said.
On Wednesday evening, a police press release said that the traffic police inspectorate was investigating “on suspicion of negligent homicide.”
Several rescue helicopters and numerous ambulances were in use. The A9 was then closed in both directions – the closure towards Munich was reopened late on Wednesday evening. There were long traffic jams on the highway and surrounding streets.
Police hotline for relatives of the Flixbus accident
Three hours after the accident, the crashed bus was righted with the help of belts and several dead people were taken out of the interior. On Wednesday evening, MDR reporter Niels Bula said in a RBB specialthat the bus was removed and the road was cleaned.
According to the bus company Flixbus, the driver had been at the wheel since leaving Berlin at 8 a.m. and had adhered to all driving and rest times. Flixbus also expressed its condolences: “Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this accident and their families,” said a spokesman for the company when asked by the German Press Agency.
The spokesman for the Leipzig police, Olaf Hoppe, told rbb Speziel on Wednesday evening that “at the moment no verified statement” about the accident is possible. It is currently clear that the victims of the accident belonged to “several nationalities”. There is currently no information as to whether victims also came from Berlin or Brandenburg.
The Saxony police have set up a hotline for information about the accident and questions from relatives. The telephone number is: 0341 966 46666.
Leipzig University Hospital is treating eleven people injured in the Flixbus accident
Hospitals in the area had prepared for a large-scale operation, according to the German Press Agency on Wednesday. Eleven injured people were treated at Leipzig University Hospital, including one seriously injured, a spokesman announced in the afternoon. He is being treated in the intensive care unit.
Saxony’s Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) took an overview of the accident site and expressed his condolences to the relatives of the victims. In addition, “I hope that the injured get better quickly,” said Schuster. He thanked the rescue workers for their professional efforts. It was a “difficult situation” that was “handled excellently”. He saw in the firefighters’ faces “how difficult these scenes were.”
Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) described the news of the crashed bus on X (formerly Twitter) as “difficult to bear”. “In these difficult hours, my thoughts are with the relatives and survivors of those who died.”
Broadcast: rbb24 special, March 27, 2024, 8:15 p.m