For the second time in just a few days, a coach veered off a motorway and fell onto its side: More than 20 people were injured on the A44 in North Rhine-Westphalia during the night. There were vocational students from Warburg on the bus.
A coach had an accident on Autobahn 44 in North Rhine-Westphalia at night. According to a police spokesman, students from a vocational college from Warburg on the border with Hesse were sitting in the bus with around 60 passengers, which left the road near Werl and fell onto its side.
The students were young adults who were returning from a trip to England. 21 of the passengers were injured and one person suffered serious injuries. There were no deaths and no one’s life was in danger, it was said.
Investigations are ongoing
It is unclear whether only students or those accompanying them were injured in the accident. According to police, the driver of the bus was uninjured. The investigation into the cause of the accident is still ongoing.
The badly damaged bus had to be righted before it could be rescued. In addition to the fire department, a rescue helicopter was also on duty. After the accident, the A44 was completely closed on one side from the Unna Ost exits to Werl. According to police, the closure is expected to last until around 9 a.m.
Serious bus accident on Wednesday
On Wednesday morning, a coach on the A9 near Leipzig left the road and fell onto its side. As with the accident in North Rhine-Westphalia, according to current knowledge, no other vehicles were involved.
In the accident on the A9, a double-decker bus from the travel company Flixbus with 52 passengers and two drivers crashed into the grass verge. Four people died, six were seriously injured and 29 were slightly injured. The driver is being investigated for negligent homicide and negligent bodily harm.
In recent years there have been repeated serious coach accidents in Germany. Nevertheless, buses are one of the relatively safe means of transport. According to accident statistics, they are comparatively rarely involved in traffic accidents with personal injuries.