A semi-truck accidentally hit a US military vehicle on the Bavaria Autobahn on Monday, German police said.
The driver of the truck involved in the accident was reportedly killed at the scene.
The U.S. military said no U.S. soldiers were injured “at this time,” but out of caution, eight soldiers were taken to hospital for screening, a spokesman for the 7th Army Training Command said. Mann, Donald Wren said.
How did the crash occur?
The collision occurred when a US military vehicle entered the shoulder lane.
The U.S. Army said four vehicles rolled over while they were near Neumarkt in Upper Palatinate, southeast of Nuremberg on the A3 highway in Bavaria.
The four vehicles stopped on the side of the road after being separated from another large convoy that was moving from Hohenfels to Grafenwerh.
Police said this was when a private commercial truck struck the vehicle from behind and the cab of his truck burst into flames, according to German news agency dpa.
The US Army said three vehicles were damaged in the crash. Police said the accident caused multiple vehicles to pile up, causing a fire that set multiple vehicles on fire and caused smoke to rise into the air.
What happened in the aftermath of the crash?
German tabloid build reported that the truck was filled with wood chips at the time of the collision, leading to a violent fire.
Police noted that two of the U.S. military vehicles were fuel tankers capable of carrying 2,500 liters of jet fuel, but luckily neither caught fire, but rescue operations were temporarily halted. I had to drain the fuel before continuing.
Police said they tried unsuccessfully to pull the driver out of the truck’s cab, but it’s unlikely he survived the crash.
The accident closed roads on both sides of the A3. Even hours after the incident, road closures continued between Parsberg and Verberg junctions on the way to Nuremberg.
In 1948, after World War II, the Combined Weapons Training Center of the United States 7th Army Training Command, based in Grafenwöhr, was established.
ar/aw (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
