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Germany: Bus overturns on highway, injuring dozens

February 10, 2023

A coach on its way to Belgium ended up on its roof after skidding off of a highway in eastern Germany. The cause of the incident is not immediately clear.

https://p.dw.com/p/4NKC5
Firefighter standing in front of the overturned bus next to the highway in Magdeburg
A bus ended up on its roof after skidding off of a highway in eastern Germany, officials saidImage: Thomas Schulz/dpa/picture alliance

A bus came off a highway in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt on Friday, injuring 35 people, officials said.

The bus, which overturned after leaving the highway near the city of Magdeburg, was traveling from Poland to Belgium.

Police say that six of the injured are in a serious condition. 

A total of 54 people were on board the coach. Germany's dpa news agency reported that there were Polish, Ukrainian, Belarusian and Belgian citizens among the passengers.

A police spokesperson said that passengers were aged between 10 and 70.

Bogdan Kurys, vice-president of the Sindbad travel company which operates the bus route, told Poland's PAP news agency that the coach was on its way from Warsaw to Belgium with two drivers.

Kurys cited police as saying that 20 people were given medical treatment, out of which 6 will likely be taken to hospital. He said that a replacement bus had arrived to take passengers onward to their destination.

Magdeburg police said that the bus came off the motorway between the Börde Nord service area and the Bornstedt junction and ended up lying on its roof after overturning. Cranes and other equipment were used to clear the wreckage.

sdi/kb (dpa, AP)