Dead and injured in destroyed cars and rubble everywhere: After a serious accident on the A5, the police are looking for the cause. Shortly before the accident, a wrong-way driver was reported.
Friedberg – Horror accident early on Sunday morning: In what is probably the most serious car accident in Hesse for years, at least four people were killed on Autobahn 5 in the direction of Kassel – including two 19-year-olds.
Four vehicles were involved in the devastating collision on Sunday at 4.40 a.m. – Photos from the accident site near Friedberg show completely destroyed cars and widespread rubble.
Wrong-way driver cause?
Shortly before the accident in the Wetterau district, a wrong-way driver had been reported to the police. Was it he who caused the bad accident before dawn? A spokeswoman did not rule that out. “Based on the current state of knowledge, we have to assume that he apparently also has something to do with the course of the accident,” she said. An expert should clarify further details. It was initially unclear whether the alleged wrong-way driver was among the dead or injured.
According to the police, a 19-year-old woman, a 19-year-old man and a 33-year-old man were killed – all from the Gießen district. The fourth fatality is a 68-year-old from Frankfurt.
In addition to the four dead, rescue workers recovered three injured from the car wrecks. A 19-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man from the Gießen district were brought to hospitals with life-threatening injuries. A 52-year-old man from the Rhein-Taunus district suffered minor injuries.
“It is a field of rubble”
The rescuers were also shaken. “The vehicles are partially torn apart, and the engine block is on the road,” said a police spokeswoman. “It’s a field of rubble.” Road maintenance experts had to bind and remove gasoline, diesel, engine oil and coolant. “There have been significant amounts leaked,” said the police in Central Hesse.
Because of flying debris, there were also follow-up accidents on the opposite lane, which resulted in property damage. The scene of the accident extended over several hundred meters. Rescue workers towed the vehicles. The blockage on the A5 northbound between the Friedberg and Ober-Mörlen junction could only be lifted after hours. The traffic could flow, the backwater dissolved.
The accident is reminiscent of a similar accident in Hesse years ago: in 2013, five people died on a main road near Heidenrod on their way to work in the morning. At the time, investigators named the risky overtaking maneuver by another vehicle as the cause. dpa
