Fürth: 34 cars damaged, house on fire – drunk truck driver has to be taken into custody

Status: 00:52 | Reading time: 2 minutes

Dhe drunk truck driver, who rammed several cars and houses in the Franconian town of Fürth, has to be taken into custody. An investigating judge at the district court in Fürth had issued an arrest warrant against the 50-year-old, the police said on Wednesday evening. The man had cut a path of destruction on Tuesday evening.

The preliminary balance of his drunk driving: Three injured including the driver, at least 34 damaged cars and a house set on fire, uninhabitable for the time being. Experts are now examining the statics of the building, said a police spokesman on Wednesday.

A police spokesman estimated the property damage at around 400,000 to 500,000 euros. The man, whose breath alcohol test showed two per mille, was arrested after his devastation. The clean-up work in the affected area of ​​Fürth continued well into Wednesday.

Many questions have not yet been clarified: Did the man have a specific motive? Or was he of unsound mind because of his drinking level? Did he act consciously? Or was there a technical defect?

It is also unclear when the residents of the damaged house will be able to return to their apartments. “The damage is immense,” said the spokesman.

According to the findings of the police, the man initially ignored a red traffic light. He touched a car, the driver of which was slightly injured in the collision. The truck just kept going, hitting several parked cars and pushing them in front of it.

According to the police, the vehicles were pushed against houses. The truck, several cars and a house facade caught fire. The truck driver and a passer-by suffered minor injuries. The fire brigade extinguished the fire and evacuated the house.

“You can only guess the power”

“I’ve never experienced such a devastation scenario,” said a police spokesman. “One can only imagine the force with which the truck drove there. It could have been a nightmare scenario if there had been more pedestrians.” Glass, plastic parts, metal, exhaust pipes – the street was littered with splinters and debris.

Blood was taken from the man, who comes from Turkey and has no registered place of residence in Germany, to determine the exact blood alcohol level. He is being investigated for leaving the scene of the accident without permission, negligent bodily harm, negligent endangerment of road traffic and negligent arson.