Ingolstadt (dpa / lby) – There were two serious injuries and hour-long traffic jams on Tuesday in several accidents on the Autobahn 9 near Ingolstadt in the direction of Nuremberg. The traffic jam was triggered by a first accident involving three vehicles in which no one was injured, the police said on Tuesday.

At the end of the traffic jam there was a second, more serious accident: a truck driver had probably noticed the end of the traffic jam too late and drove into a semi-trailer truck that was driving ahead and was loaded with 20 tons. The impact pushed him into a car with a trailer, which in turn collided with another truck.

The driver of the first truck was seriously injured, the occupants of the other three vehicles were unharmed. The driver’s cab of the 60-year-old and the trailer of the truck in front caught fire. According to a police spokesman, the driver had suffered several fractures and could no longer move, so she had to be rescued from her burning truck by first responders and a police patrol. She was taken to a hospital in a rescue helicopter.

A little later, just before the Manching junction in the direction of Nuremberg, there was a follow-up accident in which a small van hit a semitrailer. The driver of the van suffered serious injuries and had to be taken to the hospital by rescue helicopter.

According to the police, the total damage from the accidents is estimated at around 300,000 euros. The traffic jam was over 20 kilometers long at its peak. The clean-up and salvage work is expected to last into the evening. The A9 in the direction of Nuremberg initially remained closed.