Two people died and 27 others were injured in a mass pile-up involving around 40 vehicles on Autobahn 3 near Würzburg. A 52-year-old woman and a two-year-old child died at the scene of the accident, and another child had to be taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, a police spokesman said on Monday morning.
Accordingly, there were a total of three accidents on the rain-soaked section of the route within a short period of time on Sunday afternoon. The full closure of the A3 in the direction of Nuremberg was only lifted early on Monday morning. According to the police, the first rear-end collision involving 17 cars occurred around 4 p.m. in front of the Helmstadt junction. The reason for this was that some drivers were distracted by a damaged vehicle from a previous traffic accident on the side of the road. As a result, two people were seriously injured and nine others were slightly injured.
Immediately afterwards, a subsequent accident occurred several hundred meters behind due to braking maneuvers. As a result, three vehicles caught fire. The woman and the small child died here. Eleven people were slightly injured, three seriously – including the child with life-threatening injuries. About half an hour later there was another accident at the end of the traffic jam, which also involved three vehicles. There were two slightly injured people.
A large number of police, fire brigade and rescue workers were deployed. According to the Bavarian Red Cross, three rescue helicopters landed on the highway. According to the information, around 30 uninjured people involved in the accident were looked after by trained helpers. A care center was also set up for the emergency services. According to initial information from the police, the property damage is likely to amount to a mid-six-figure sum.