After the serious bus accident on Autobahn 9 near Leipzig, the police revised 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 on Wednesday evening. The traffic police inspectorate is conducting an investigation on suspicion of negligent homicide, it said. No information has yet been provided about the identity, age and gender of the victims. Around 20 people were injured.
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A double-decker bus from Flixbus left the road on the A9 on Wednesday morning 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. The investigators initially did not provide any information about the identity, age and gender of the victims.
On Wednesday there was a serious accident with a Flixbus on the A9 near Leipzig.
Source: Michael Stromeyer
According to the Flixbus company, there were 53 passengers and two drivers on board the long-distance bus. 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.
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A company spokesman said that we were working closely with the local authorities and the rescue workers on site and that everything was being done to clarify the cause of the accident quickly and completely. “Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this accident and their families.”
Flixbus accident near Leipzig: bus uprighted after three hours
It was only after three hours that the crashed bus could be righted with the help of belts and several dead people removed from the interior. Mobile privacy screens shielded the action. According to the police, the driver of the coach is not among the dead. Details about the man’s health were not given.
Armin Schuster (CDU, M), Interior Minister of Saxony, gives a press statement at the scene of the accident on the A9.
Source: Jan Woitas/dpa
Hospitals in the area had prepared for a large-scale operation. The emergency room has been alerted and operating rooms and diagnostic rooms are being prepared and available, said a spokesman for the Diakonissen Hospital in Leipzig upon request. In addition, the control center has been informed about the capacities it has for admitting patients. Eight injured people were treated at Leipzig University Hospital, including one seriously injured, a spokesman said upon request.
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This is how a mother and her three children experienced the serious Flixbus accident
Sadaf Bahadury wanted to visit relatives in Switzerland with her three children. The family’s trip with the Flixbus ended with a serious accident on the A9 near Leipzig – the family survived with minor injuries. This is how she describes the accident.
Reactions from politics after the Flixbus accident
Such accidents are shocking, said Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) to the news channel “Welt”. “And now it’s about the security forces on site having to clarify the matter and helping the people who urgently need help now.”
Chronology: Serious accidents involving coaches
Long-distance buses are actually one of the safest means of transport. According to accident statistics, buses are comparatively rarely involved in traffic accidents with personal injuries. And if they do, then very few people are injured on a coach, but rather on public buses. However, like now near Leipzig, people occasionally die in serious accidents on motorways. A selection:
- Saxony, May 2019: A woman dies on the A9 when a coach driver no longer has control of his vehicle due to a “medical problem”. Nine people are seriously injured.
- Bavaria, July 2017: 18 people died in the flames when a coach drove into a tractor-trailer on the A9 in Upper Franconia at around 60 kilometers per hour and immediately caught fire. 30 others are injured, some seriously.
- Thuringia, October 2015: A bus carrying students from Saxony comes off the road on the A4 near Erfurt after an overtaking maneuver and overturns. A boy dies.
- Saxony, July 2014: Eleven people die when a coach from Poland first hits a Ukrainian bus on the A4 near Dresden, then breaks through the guardrail and races into oncoming traffic.
- Brandenburg, September 2010:14 Poles die when their bus is rammed by a car on the A10 south of Berlin and crashes into a bridge pillar.
- Lower Saxony, November 2008: Near Hanover, a coach bursts into flames on the A2 due to a technical defect. 20 passengers on the way back from a coffee trip die.
Motorway closed in both directions
Saxony’s Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) took an overview of the accident site and expressed his condolences to the relatives of the victims. In addition, “I hope that the injured get better quickly.” Schuster thanked the rescue workers for their professional efforts. It was a “difficult situation” that was “handled excellently”. He saw in the firefighters’ faces “how difficult these scenes were.”
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Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) described the news of the crashed bus on X (formerly Twitter) as “difficult to bear”. “In these difficult hours, my thoughts are with the relatives and survivors of those who died.”
The bus apparently left the road during the accident and landed in a ditch.
Source: Jan Woitas/dpa
Saxony’s Transport Minister Martin Dulig was also dismayed. “My thoughts are with the relatives of the victims and injured,” said the SPD politician. “I would like to thank the many emergency services on site who provided quick help.”
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.
RND/dpa/axl/seb