In the darkness near Osnabrück, a car crosses into the oncoming lane. An approaching truck can no longer brake in time. The family with two small children dies at the scene of the accident. The cause of the accident is still unclear.
Terrible accident on night road: A family with two small children died in a head-on collision between a car and a truck. The 25-year-old driver had come into the oncoming lane with his car on federal highway 51 in the Osnabrück district at 1.20 a.m. A police spokesman said this morning. Between Ostercappeln and Bohmte, the car collided with a truck that was heading towards Osnabrück. In the car next to the young father were the 24-year-old mother and two boys aged two years and eight months. All four died at the scene of the accident.
After the collision with the 40-ton truck, the car was so crushed that the family had to be cut out of the car. The exact cause of death was initially unclear. An autopsy could provide clarity, police said. The 41-year-old truck driver appeared unharmed but suffered a shock. When questioned by police, he said he tried to brake when the car suddenly went into the oncoming lane, but it was too late. Witnesses who were in cars behind the family and behind the truck gave the same description of the accident.
According to the police, it is no longer possible to determine why the father’s car entered the oncoming lane. The car’s speedometer stopped at 110 kilometers per hour, although the road only allows 70. But that is not a clear indication. The speedometer could also have changed during the accident. The investigators believe it is possible that the 23-year-old fell asleep, had a heart attack or simply lost control.
For the public prosecutor’s office, he is considered the cause of the accident, but no investigation is carried out into the dead. The road was closed until 8:40 a.m. The car and truck had to be towed. Chaplains were on hand to care for the truck driver and the Witnesses. The police want to interview relatives of the deceased during the course of Sunday. It should also be clarified where the family was going in the early hours of the morning.
