Two married couples in their 30s have died after a car with a British number plate ploughed into a forest in Germany.
The incident, which saw an Audi skid off the road and end up lodged between several trees, unfolded on the L3229 road through the Reinhardshagen Forest, Hesse on Friday night. A 32-year-old driver, a 31-year-old passenger, and two female passengers aged 30 and 32, were pronounced at the scene. Local media described them as two couples.
Police identified the number plates on the car as being from the United Kingdom. A spokeswoman said: “The car had the steering wheel on the right and was positioned for left-hand traffic in England. We assume that the driver was unfamiliar with the route and lost control of the car in the left-hand bend.”
Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen)
The Mirror has approached the Foreign Office for comment. In Hesse, the public prosecutor’s office has taken the car for examination, and an expert will later perform a reconstruction of the crash.
Emergency services were sent to the scene after an automatic crash alert was triggered by one of the victim’s mobile phones. The alert brought ambulance crews, fire engines, and police to the location.
They discovered the car on its side, wedged between several trees. The four casualties were only found and extracted after the vehicle’s roof had been cut away.
A spokesperson for the Reinhardshagen Volunteer Fire Department said the “high number of deaths” made it an “extraordinary operation” for the group of volunteer firefighters.
Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen)
They added: “The situation on scene was that a car was lying on its side, wedged between several trees.
“Initially, we assumed there were only two people in the wreckage.
“A crew was therefore dispatched to explore the wider area to search for any occupants who might have been ejected during the impact.
“At the same time, the vehicle was stabilised and a technical rescue using hydraulic rescue equipment was initiated. Shortly after the start of operations, we identified another person in the back seat.
“Once we had almost completely removed the roof, we discovered another person in the car. The emergency doctor checked the vital functions of the occupants, but unfortunately could only confirm that all of them were dead.”