Five people died, ten were seriously injured and 29 were slightly injured in a bus accident on a highway in Germany near Leipzig on Wednesday. According to Saxon police spokesman Chris Graupner, the two drivers of the crashed bus were of Czech and Slovak nationality and survived the accident. Graupner also stated that he does not currently see any other Czech or Slovak citizens among the injured and dead.
54 people, including a 62-year-old Czech driver and his 53-year-old Slovak colleague, were traveling on a FlixBus bus on the route from Berlin to Zurich, Switzerland. “The driver was a Czech, a Slovak was the substitute driver,” Graupner said. He stated that he could not say anything more about the condition of the drivers.
Graupner also said that the police do not register any other Czech and Slovak citizens. “However, the list is not yet completely complete, but at the moment we do not have any Slovaks and Czechs on the list,” the spokesman added.
The reason for the initially reported higher number of dead was the critical condition of one of the injured, whose life was in immediate danger.
The accident happened near Leipzig on the A9 highway, which connects Berlin with Munich. The bus crashed near the junction of the A9 with the A14 motorway from Magdeburg to Dresden. The cause of the accident has not yet been published, according to the media, the bus suddenly went off the highway into a ditch, where it overturned.
The injured were helped shortly after the accident by paramedics who happened to be passing by in another bus. In this second vehicle, paramedics also treated two other people who, according to police, suffered shock.
