Status: 05/29/2023 1:20 p.m
On Sunday evening, twelve people suffered injuries, some of them serious, in an accident with a covered wagon in the Emsland district. The police have launched an investigation into the tractor driver.
Witnesses had alerted the fire brigade and rescue service at around 6:51 p.m. Due to the confusing situation with many people involved, the control center sent nine ambulances and two emergency doctors to the scene of the accident in Andervenne (joint municipality of Freren), said a police spokesman. The fire brigades from Andervenne and Freren were also deployed. The rescue workers delivered the three seriously injured, two women aged 19 and 53 and a 58-year-old man, to nearby hospitals. Nine other passengers suffered minor injuries, two people, including the tractor driver, were uninjured.
Covered wagon stays on the roof
The group is said to have been on a family outing with the tractor and wagon combination. According to the police spokesman, “due to a technical defect, the covered wagon became detached from the towing vehicle, rolled off the gravel path to the left into a ditch and overturned there”. The cause could have been a cracked weld seam. The wagon remained lying on the roof.
Tractor drivers without a permit
The police initiated an investigation into negligent bodily harm against the tractor driver, as the police confirmed to NDR Lower Saxony. In addition, the man should not have the necessary permits to transport people on the covered wagon. The officials saw road safety impaired, it said. “Per se, such journeys – passenger transport on trailers – are actually only allowed for agricultural and forestry purposes or for their benefit to a small extent,” said the police spokesman. For private and commercial purposes, “the team must be presented to the TÜV, specially approved and a special permit from the district must be available”.
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