Two Filipino tourists die and dozens suffer injuries after Oktoberfest bus overturns on German highway

Rollover on the A96 autobahn

A tour coach carrying 33 Filipino visitors overturned on Sunday morning along the A96 highway in southern Germany while traveling toward Munich. The accident occurred at 5:41 a.m. local time between the Buchloe-Ost and Landsberg am Lech-West junctions, located in Upper Bavaria and the neighboring Ostallgäu district near the Austrian border. Investigators established that the bus left the right side of the roadway on its own without colliding with any other vehicles before overturning on the embankment. Emergency dispatchers immediately mobilized regional services, prompting police to shut down the A96 completely in both directions to clear space for emergency operations. Traffic along the motorway remained blocked for several hours before reopening to vehicles in the afternoon.

Emergency response and casualties

The rollover resulted in the deaths of two passengers at the scene, including a 58-year-old Filipino national, while the identity of the second deceased victim was not immediately established. Emergency services mounted a large rescue response, dispatching more than 200 firefighters, paramedics, and police officers alongside nine rescue helicopters. Medical teams airlifted six seriously injured passengers to nearby hospitals, with authorities noting that one individual remained in life-threatening condition. Paramedics transported two additional victims by ambulance, while another 22 passengers received on-site medical attention before several were transferred to clinics. Early police reports initially estimated between 40 and 50 people on board before officers confirmed an exact manifest of 35 individuals, consisting of 33 tourists and two Italian drivers.

Investigation into negligent homicide

The Ingolstadt police headquarters announced that the 40-year-old Italian driver who was operating the bus at the time of the crash faces an investigation for negligent homicide. Both drivers on board emerged from the overturned vehicle largely uninjured and were examined by paramedics at the site. The public prosecutor's office commissioned a comprehensive technical accident reconstruction report to examine the vehicle and establish why it drifted off the road. Police representatives noted that initiating criminal inquiries against drivers involved in fatal collisions is a standard legal procedure in Germany.

It is naturally very chaotic at first, and establishing the facts is difficult.

Officials stated that establishing the specific human or mechanical causes behind the vehicle leaving the highway will depend on findings from the technical inspection.

Route details and festival travel

The chartered bus was owned by an Italian travel company and had departed from Milan, an Italian city with a sizeable Filipino community. Early dispatch reports had noted conflicting information about a Zurich-to-Milan routing, but investigators confirmed the vehicle was traveling directly toward Munich for the annual Oktoberfest celebration. The Bavarian festival draws millions of international visitors each autumn over its two-week duration. The incident follows other coach accidents across central Europe during September 2026, including a crash in Switzerland that killed five people on a Dutch coach and an accident on Germany's A3 highway that injured 30 people.