50 vehicles - 1 accident

In a massive pile-up on a fog covered motorway in western Germany, 50 vehicles ram into
Three people were killed and 35 injured in a massive pile-up collision on a fog-covered motorway in western Germany, police said on Saturday (November 19).

The crash, which involved 52 vehicles, occurred on Friday night near the city of Muenster after fog settled over the stretch of the autobahn 31.

“There was a mass pile-up with around 50 vehicles. There was a thick wall of fog at the site. Visibility was around one metre. In the vehicles and around there were injured people. Some with worse some with less severe injuries. There were also people that were trapped,” Firebrigade duty officer, Dirk Honekamp, said from the scene.

The seriously injured were already on their way to hospital Honekamp said.

Experts were investigating details of the accident, which drew hundreds of emergency workers to the scene, police said. A stretch of motorway nearly 10 km (6 miles) long was closed into Saturday afternoon.

“As my colleagues arrived there was fog around the accident site. We have to wait for the results if investigations to see if this ends up being the reason for the crash,” police spokesman, Jan Schabacker said.