Dismayed reactions - After truck accident in Passau: Nine-year-old boy still in hospital
There was a serious truck accident in Passau in Lower Bavaria on Friday morning in which a 37-year-old mother and her 11-year-old child were killed. According to the German Press Agency, the nine-year-old son is still in hospital for treatment - as are two women aged 70 and 45.
Truck drives into crowd of people - police assume accident
The truck driver had probably wanted to avoid a bus in Passau city center - and drove onto the sidewalk. There, the vehicle drives into a crowd of people. Five people were injured, two of them died. The 37-year-old woman died at the scene of the accident, her daughter succumbed to her injuries in hospital. The state of health of the injured nine-year-old is said to be unchanged. On Friday afternoon, a police spokeswoman said that danger to life could not be ruled out at present. The 70-year-old woman, who is also in hospital for treatment, was seriously injured, the 45-year-old woman slightly.
The 63-year-old truck driver is now in police custody after receiving medical treatment. At around 9.50 a.m. on Friday morning, the man drove his truck off the road on Bahnhofstrasse in Passau city center and hit a group of people on the footpath before coming to a halt against a wall. "We firmly believe it was a traffic accident," said a police spokesperson after the incident - countering speculation on social media about an alleged terrorist attack.
Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann also confirmed this: "So far, there are no indications of an attack or a politically motivated background." In particular, it is being investigated whether it was a driving error or a technical problem with the truck. The CSU politician expressed his condolences to the relatives.
The exact course of the accident and the reason for the truck leaving the road are now the subject of the investigation. The public prosecutor's office and an expert have been called in. A police spokeswoman was initially unable to say whether alcohol or drugs were involved.
Dismayed reactions after truck accident in Passau
The scene of the accident was cordoned off over a wide area on Friday morning, with numerous police officers, firefighters, crisis intervention teams and emergency services personnel on site. Several rescue helicopters landed at the Schanzlbrücke, a multi-lane bridge in Passau, to fly the injured to hospitals. A police helicopter was used to take a general view of the accident. The accident happened at around 9.50 a.m., and around four and a half hours later, at around 2.20 p.m., the police lifted the traffic closures again.
Passau's Lord Mayor Jürgen Dupper (SPD) was "deeply affected and shocked". "In events like this, all our sympathy goes out to the people affected and their families," wrote the SPD politician. "This accident marks the worst possible end to the year 2023."
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Source: www.stern.de
