Bavaria
Seven dead in an accident involving a suspected smuggling car
Rescue workers and police officers at the overturned vehicle. Seven people died and several were seriously injured in the accident. photo
© Sven Hoppe/dpa
While trying to evade a police check, a completely overcrowded suspected smuggling vehicle left the road early in the morning and overturned. Seven people are now dead, including a child.
The van, which was completely overcrowded with 23 people, left the road and overturned while trying to avoid a federal police check, the police said. The passengers were Syrians and Turks, the driver was a stateless man from Austria. All occupants were injured and the survivors were taken to nearby hospitals. Because the van, designed for nine people, was completely overcrowded, many of the occupants could not have been wearing seatbelts, it was said.
“Dismantling the cruel business of smuggling gangs”
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser was shocked by the accident. “We have significantly increased federal police forces everywhere on the smuggling routes at our borders,” said the SPD politician. “We must dismantle the cruel business of smuggling gangs who make maximum profit from people’s need and smuggle them across borders in such life-threatening ways.”
The federal police noticed the car on the A94, said the state police investigating the accident. The driver then accelerated sharply and evaded control. The vehicle left the road near the Ampfing/Waldkraiburg junction and overturned. According to initial police findings, the driver is probably not among the dead.
Numerous emergency services and the fire department were on site in the morning. Rescue helicopters were also in use. The road in the direction of Munich was completely closed.
Call for stronger border controls
The scene of the accident is around 50 kilometers from the border with Austria. According to information from the Federal Police and the Bavarian Border Police, the number of registered unauthorized entries has been increasing for months. The A94 is considered a typical smuggling route. Just a few days ago, a suspected smuggler fled from the federal police near Burghausen with four people in the car and caused an accident. There were two seriously injured.
According to police, it was initially unclear where exactly the car with an Austrian license plate that crashed on Friday crossed the border with Germany.
After the serious accident, Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) emphasized his call for stronger border controls. “In any case, this incident also shows how important it is to further strengthen immediate border controls in order to stop smugglers at the border,” he told the German Press Agency in Munich.
“The terrible traffic accident with seven deaths, including a small child, and a total of 16 people, some seriously injured, is a terrible tragedy,” said Herrmann. “My thoughts are with the many victims of the traffic accident and with those left behind. The inhumane behavior of the smuggler who was injured in the accident and who wanted to evade being stopped by the federal police just to save his own skin is shocking.”
The Bavarian police are “investigating the accident at high speed and are also supporting the Federal Police in the investigation into the underlying smuggling and the people behind it,” emphasized Herrmann.