A9 near Leipzig
Police reduce number of deaths in bus accident
The A9 was completely closed for twelve hours after the serious bus accident
© Imago Images
Four people died in the serious bus accident on the A9. The police had initially spoken of five deaths, but have now corrected their information. How the accident occurred remains unclear.
After the serious bus accident on the Autobahn 9 near Leipzig Police corrected the number of deaths from five to four. A person who was initially reported to the police as having died was in a life-threatening condition, the Leipzig Police Department announced late on Wednesday evening. The traffic police inspectorate is conducting an investigation on suspicion of negligent homicide, it said. The full closure of the A9 was lifted around 9:30 p.m. – around twelve hours after the accident.
A double-decker bus from Flixbus, which was supposed to travel from Berlin to Zurich, left the road on Wednesday morning on the A9 in the direction of Munich and overturned. The police initially spoke of five dead and 20 injured. The evening’s announcement said there were six seriously injured and 29 slightly injured. In another bus, some of whose occupants acted as first aiders, two people suffered shock and then had to receive medical attention, it was said.
The investigators initially did not provide any information about the identity, age and gender of the victims. The identification of the dead has not yet been completed. “We ask for your understanding that no further information can be given about the course of the accident at this time,” the police said in the evening.
Bus accident: 53 passengers and two drivers were on board
According to the Flixbus company, there were 53 passengers and two drivers on board the long-distance bus. According to police, the drivers are 53 and 62 years old. According to police, the driver who was behind the wheel at the time of the accident is not among the dead. According to the bus company, he had been driving since leaving Berlin at 8 a.m. and had adhered to all driving and rest times. The accident happened around 9:45 a.m. between the Wiedemar junction and the Schkeuditzer Kreuz.
There was already a serious bus accident on the A9 near Bad Dürrenberg in Saxony-Anhalt in 2019. A woman died and several people were injured. In December 2023, a coach also had an accident on the A9 near Leipzig, leaving several people injured.