They are terrible images that many passers-by will probably not soon forget. Near Potsdamer Platz in the middle of Berlin, a police officer kneels on the road next to an overturned stroller. There are wrecked cars not far away – one diagonally on the road with the front completely destroyed, the other with the rear part barely visible.
According to the Berlin police, an 83-year-old driver hit a 41-year-old and her four-year-old son in a stroller in the serious traffic accident on Saturday. The mother died shortly afterwards in the hospital, and the child died that same evening after an emergency operation. Two relatives witnessed the accident.
According to a police spokeswoman, the woman’s partner and sister were taken to hospital with shock and were treated there as outpatients. All four come from Belgium and were in Berlin as tourists. As the police said, citing witnesses, the 83-year-old driver was traveling at excessive speed on Leipziger Straße.
When he approached the vehicles that were waiting due to traffic, according to initial police findings, he is said to have used the right-hand cycle lane in violation of traffic rules to drive past the traffic jam. At that moment, the 41-year-old pedestrian and her four-year-old son wanted to cross the road.
The fire department resuscitated the woman and her child
The two were hit head-on by the car. The driver of the accident then crashed into another vehicle, which in turn drove into a car waiting at the red light. According to the Berlin fire department, one of the drivers was seriously injured and was also taken to hospital. Rescue workers tried to revive the mother and child at the scene of the accident. They were then further resuscitated on the way to the hospital, according to the fire department.
According to the police, the 83-year-old driver of the accident was also taken to the hospital. However, he was released after outpatient treatment. A voluntary breath alcohol measurement showed a value of 0.0 per mille. The man’s driver’s license was confiscated and the vehicle involved in the accident was seized.
Because the accident site is in a heavily frequented area of Berlin, numerous passers-by witnessed the accident. They were clearly under the impression of what was happening. Rescue workers and pastors looked after them at the scene of the accident. According to the police, investigations into the exact cause of the accident are still ongoing.
On Sunday there was not much left to remember the accident on Leipziger Strasse. The busy road was closed for five hours on Saturday.
