A coach carrying a group of pupils from a Belgian primary school was involved in an accident in Germany on Wednesday. There were no deaths, but six people were slightly injured.
A group of 38 pupils from a primary school in Liedekerke, East Flanders, and some 20 from Den Top primary school in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw were on board a coach that crashed while bringing the children back home after a ski trip around 02:30 on Wednesday. The coach was travelling on a narrow road with two other coaches.
"A fully loaded coach from Belgium with a group of children/young people crashed into a stationary traffic control vehicle on the Federal Motorway 3," the local fire department posted on Instagram on Wednesday morning. The accident happened in a construction zone between the Mühlhausen/Wachenroth junction in the direction of Würzburg in Germany's Bavaria region.
The scene of the accident. Credit: Kreisbrandinspektion Erlangen-Höchstadt
"The motorway was closed on both sides for several hours. Fortunately, only six people were slightly injured," the authorities added. The driver was taken to hospital with minor injuries and police are conducting an investigation to establish the exact circumstances of the accident.
The pupils, none of whom were injured, were taken to a sports hall where they were looked after, and will receive psychological assistance if necessary. Another coach is on its way to take them back to Belgium.
The mayor of Liedekerke, Steven Van Linthout, told Belga News Agency that the management had informed the parents concerned through various channels. "It is very reassuring that no one was hurt," he said. "It could have ended much worse."
