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Slide A7: A previously unknown vehicle has lost a "white, powdery substance" on the Autobahn near Göttingen
Photo: Swen Pförtner / dpa
The Autobahn 7 in southern Lower Saxony remains closed in the direction of Kassel for the time being due to cleaning work.
A previously unknown vehicle had lost a "white, powdery substance" there, which is probably paraffin.
The cleaning with 15 special vehicles did not bring the desired result, said a spokesman for the operating company Via Lower Saxony on Tuesday.
Due to the substance, the road between the Northeim-Nord and Lutterberg junctions on the border with Hesse has become extremely smooth, it said.
Possibly suspended until Wednesday
It can be assumed that the motorway will remain closed for a length of around 50 kilometers on Tuesday and possibly also on Wednesday.
After the re-release of sections, Tempo 80 will apply there for the time being, the federal highway company announced on Tuesday afternoon.
"Rain and the low temperature make the work difficult," says the highway company.
The rain means that previous cleaning results are deteriorated again.
As before, special vehicles would use hot water under high pressure to loosen the substance from the road.
Paraffin is not toxic, but according to the police, the waxy dirt caused it to be extremely slippery.
The motorway was therefore completely closed on the affected section on Monday night.
The nearby detour routes were completely overloaded.
The area should be largely bypassed via Bielefeld and Paderborn.
According to the local police, there were no impairments on the corresponding Autobahns 2, 33 and 44.
The police suspect that a tanker truck lost the liquid, which then dried up.
Officials are still looking for who caused the pollution, they said on Tuesday.
He may have committed an offence.
According to the first witnesses, it is assumed that a light-colored tanker truck has lost its substance.
The officials emphasized that there was no evidence that climate activists were responsible.
Paraffin is mainly used to make candles.
The incident happened late Sunday evening.
swe/dpa