Truck races on the highway in a military convoy: Police confirm the death of the driver

Created: 12/21/2021, 09:51 AM

From: Kerstin Kesselgruber

Several trucks were on fire on the A3.

A truck drove into a convoy of several US military vehicles.

© Markus Rath / dpa

In an accident on the A3 in Bavaria, a truck sped into a military convoy on Monday.

The truck driver dies on the spot.

Update from Tuesday, December 21, 2021, 9.45 a.m.:

After the serious accident between a truck and a military convoy on the A3 in Bavaria, the death of the truck driver has now been confirmed. The man died in the accident on Monday (December 20, 2021), a police spokeswoman said. Because the driver's cab of the truck was on fire, the rescue measures on the A3 in the Upper Palatinate were difficult. Therefore, the motorway had to be partially closed. As the officials also announced, the driver could only be rescued dead by the rescue workers. 

According to the police, a tank truck was among the three US vehicles that were parked on the shoulder of the A3 shortly after the Parsberg junction in the Neumarkt district of Upper Palatinate.

This had loaded 2500 liters of jet fuel, but it did not ignite.

In the collision with the truck, the tanks of the vehicles caught fire - but not the cargo.

After the accident on the A3 in Bavaria, eight US soldiers had to be hospitalized on suspicion of smoke gas poisoning.

However, further information on the health status of the people is not yet available.

Truck races on A3 in military convoy: driver presumably dead

Update from Monday, December 20, 2021, 3:45 p.m.:

According to the police, the truck driver who drove into a military convoy on the A3 in the Upper Palatinate is probably dead. The driver's cab has been completely destroyed, the driver still has to be rescued.

But it can be assumed that he died, said a police spokesman.

The truck drove into one of three US military vehicles on Monday that were parked on the hard shoulder of the A3 near Parsberg.

Eight US soldiers came to the hospital for checks.

After the accident, the A3 was temporarily fully closed.

Accident on A3: truck rams US military convoy - eight soldiers in hospital

First report from Monday, December 20, 2021, 12.49 p.m.:

Parsberg - A truck rammed a US military convoy on the A3 in the Upper Palatinate.

Several vehicles burned, as a police spokesman said on Monday (December 20, 2021).

Eight members of the US Army were believed to have come to the hospital for a check-up with smoke poisoning.

The police assume an accident and not an attack.

On Monday, shortly after the junction in Parsberg in the Neumarkt district in the Upper Palatinate, the semitrailer truck drove into one of three US vehicles that were on the hard shoulder.

Among them was a tank truck - it was loaded with 2500 liters of jet fuel, which luckily did not ignite.

Accident on the A3: truck rams military vehicles with full force

The tanks of the vehicles caught fire, not the cargo.

The tires exploded, the spokesman said.

It was unclear why the truck from Germany drove into the convoy.

The truck was loaded with sawdust and hit the military vehicles with full force.

At noon there was initially no reliable information about the condition of the driver.

The highway was closed in both directions.

The fire was soon extinguished.

The public was at no point in danger because the smoke was not moving towards populated areas, the police spokesman said.

Several trucks are on fire on the A3 while firefighters are busy extinguishing the fire.

A truck had previously driven into a convoy of several US military vehicles.

© Markus Rath / dpa

Truck accident on the A3: no soldiers injured

The spokesman for the US military base in Grafenwoehr, Upper Palatinate, Donald Wrenn, said there was no information about injured US soldiers.

But eight were brought to a clinic for a check-up as a precaution.

Earlier, reports had mentioned eight injured soldiers.

The three vehicles of the US Army were traveling from Hohenfels on the A3 in the direction of Grafenwoehr when they were separated from the rest of their approved convoy at the edge of the autobahn.

“While the vehicles were waiting, one was rammed.” So the others were also damaged.

It was still unclear why the vehicles stopped on the hard shoulder.

Serious rear-end collisions happen again and again on the autobahn.

This was also recently the case on the A7: In an accident, two trucks crashed into each other *.

In another serious truck accident, a driver was trapped in his vehicle * and died.

(kke / dpa)