A truck hit several pedestrians in Passau, Lower Bavaria, killing a mother and her eleven-year-old daughter. The 37-year-old died at the scene of the accident and the girl succumbed to her injuries in hospital, the police said. The nine-year-old son was also injured, as were two women aged 70 and 45. “Bild” had previously reported.
The truck driver remained in police custody after receiving medical treatment. A police spokeswoman could not yet answer whether alcohol or drugs were involved.
According to police, the 63-year-old man was on a delivery trip on Bahnhofstrasse, which is lined with shops. According to initial police findings, as he continued driving he wanted to avoid a stationary bus – and to do so he drove onto the sidewalk opposite. His truck hit people there and then came to a stop against a wall.
The nine-year-old’s health is still unclear, but a police spokeswoman said that the boy was still being treated. Danger to life cannot currently be ruled out. The 70-year-old was seriously injured and the 45-year-old was slightly injured.
Police assume it was an accident
The scene of the accident was cordoned off on Friday morning, and numerous police officers, firefighters, crisis intervention teams and emergency services employees were on site. Several rescue helicopters landed at the Schanzlbrücke, a multi-lane bridge in Passau, to fly the injured to clinics. A police helicopter was used to take general photos of the accident. The accident happened around 9:50 a.m., around four and a half hours later, around 2:20 p.m., the police lifted the traffic closures again.
A police spokesman rejected theories on social media that it could have been an intentional act: “We are definitely assuming a traffic accident.” Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann also confirmed this: “So far there is no evidence of an assassination attempt or a politically motivated background.” In particular, it will be checked whether it was a driving error or a technical problem with the truck. The CSU politician expressed his condolences to the relatives.
The exact course of the accident is now to be reconstructed by the police and public prosecutor, and an expert was also deployed at the scene of the accident. The truck was towed away and will be further examined by police.
Passau’s mayor Jürgen Dupper (SPD) was “deeply affected and shocked”. He told the “Passauer Neue Presse”: “In events like this, our full sympathy goes out to the people affected and their relatives.”
