34 hurt, including children with high needs, after camper slams into queue on A9 in Thuringia

Chain of events

At around 18:00 on Saturday, an accident involving a horse trailer occurred on the A9 motorway in southern Thuringia, heading toward Munich. The trailer overturned, prompting authorities to close the motorway in both directions. That closure caused a traffic jam in the opposite direction, toward Berlin. Cars in the jam formed a Rettungsgasse, a rescue lane between the lanes for emergency vehicles.

About 40 minutes later, a camper van carrying two children approached the tailback between the Rudolphstein and Bad Lobenstein exits. The driver failed to see the stationary vehicles and drove into the rescue lane without braking. The camper struck multiple cars, setting off a chain-reaction crash.

Casualties and damage

A total of 34 people were injured, a police spokesperson said. All injuries were light to moderate, and no one was in a life-threatening condition. Among the damaged vehicles were two minibuses carrying 11 children "with high support needs" and their 8 caregivers, who were returning from a trip to Austria. The camper itself had two children on board.

Nine vehicles were damaged in the collision, which occurred in the Berlin-bound lanes. Police estimated the material damage at approximately 350,000 euros.

Rescue and closure

The motorway remained closed for around five and a half hours so that rescue workers could tend to the injured and remove the wreckage. Emergency services transported the wounded to hospitals. The earlier horse trailer accident had already caused a full closure in both directions after the trailer overturned. The resulting tailback on the opposite side set the stage for the second collision. The A9 was eventually reopened after the recovery and cleanup were completed.