Bavaria - Truck drives onto sidewalk - mother and daughter dead
A truck has hit several pedestrians in Passau, Lower Bavaria, killing a mother and her eleven-year-old daughter. The 37-year-old died at the scene of the accident, the girl succumbed to her injuries in hospital, according to the police. The nine-year-old son was also injured, as were two women aged 70 and 45. The newspaper "Bild" had previously reported.
The nine-year-old's state of health is still unclear, a police spokeswoman said that the boy is still being treated. Danger to life cannot be ruled out at present. The 70-year-old woman was seriously injured, the 45-year-old woman slightly.
According to the police, the 63-year-old truck driver was on a delivery tour on Friday morning on Bahnhofsstraße, which is lined with stores. According to initial police reports, he wanted to avoid a stationary bus as he drove on - and drove onto the sidewalk opposite. His truck hit the people there and then came to a halt against a wall.
Police assume accident
The scene of the accident was cordoned off on Friday morning, with numerous police officers, firefighters, crisis intervention teams and members of the emergency services 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.
A police spokesperson rejected theories on social media that it could have been a deliberate act: "We firmly believe it was a traffic accident." Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann also confirmed this: "So far, there are no indications of an assassination attempt 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 is now to be reconstructed by the police and the public prosecutor's office, and an expert was also deployed at the scene of the accident. The truck was towed away and will be examined in more detail by the police. The truck driver remained in police custody after receiving medical treatment. A police spokeswoman was initially unable to say whether alcohol or drugs were involved.
Passau's Lord Mayor Jürgen Dupper (SPD) was "deeply saddened and shocked". He told the "Passauer Neue Presse" newspaper: "In events like this, all our sympathy goes out to the people affected and their families."
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Source: www.stern.de
