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Fatal Flixbus accident near Leipzig: “When the bus was there, it was very quiet for a moment!”
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By Nico Zeissler
Leipzig – May 19, 2019 should end in tragedy for 75 occupants of a Flix bus. While the majority can free themselves from the vehicle involved in the accident, some with serious injuries, one woman can only be recovered dead. But even for some survivors, their whole lives changed after the incident.
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Impaled by the crash barrier, the Flixbus is on May 19, 2019 next to the A9 near Leipzig. © Jan Woitas/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
On May 17, 2019, Verena Wagner set off from Munich to Berlin in a long-distance coach to take part in further training. Two days later, the gynecologist is supposed to go back to the Bavarian capital.
That Sunday there were numerous people on the bus platform for the Flixbus ride. “It was clear that the bus would be packed,” she says in the MDR program “Lifesaver”.
The then 59-year-old bus driver had to load the luggage for dozens of passengers all by himself. Always under pressure to stick to tight schedules.
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Numerous accidents after slippery chaos on the A9
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Verena Wagner finds a place in the penultimate upper row in the double-decker bus. The vehicle starts its approximately seven-hour and 580-kilometer journey on time. But after just two hours, it ends abruptly.
On the A9 west of Leipzig, shortly before the remaining space in Bachfurt, there were suddenly scraping noises from the right-hand side, and the bus wobbled. “Then you noticed that the bus was turning. There was a huge screeching,” the doctor recalls.
The Flixbus sens traffic signs, drives up a slope and falls on its left side. The crash barrier bores into the front area, which is completely destroyed. Verena Wagner falls on another inmate whose face is bloody.
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Trapped passengers are freed with ladders. © Jan Woitas/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
Flixbus drama on the A9 near Leipzig: “It was chaos!”
Around 200 emergency services were on duty on May 19, 2019. © Jan Woitas/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
“When the bus stopped, it was very quiet on the bus for a moment before everyone started looking for the exit,” says Wagner.
Many climb outside via the broken rear window, only to notice that the bus engine is still running, while an obvious puddle of gasoline grows.
Again and again the fewer wounded get seriously injured and sometimes lifeless people out of the bus. A group of men also frees the bus driver, whom Verena Wagner does not recognize at first because his face is covered in blood.
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Accident on the A9: six-month-old baby injured
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The doctor herself registers an injury on her arm, a bleeding and swollen nose. Only hours later does she realize that she is much more seriously injured.
The situation on the freeway is confusing for the rescue workers who gradually arrived late on Sunday afternoon. “It felt like there were thousands of people running around there. It was chaos,” says Matthias Fiedler from the Leuna volunteer fire brigade.
Because more and more injured people are localized, the keyword MANV (mass casualty incident) is called out. A total of 200 emergency services are said to have been at the scene of the accident.
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A sad result: one dead, 72 injured, some seriously
The Italian Cristina P. († 63) did not survive the accident. © private
The first seriously injured are flown to surrounding hospitals, eight rescue helicopters are in use.
The St. Georg Clinic is ending its routine operations, ending ongoing operations and postponing those that have not yet started and are not vital.
The fire brigade can meanwhile free a trapped young Italian woman, her mother is still on the bus. But for Cristina P. († 63) any help comes too late, she is dead.
The balance of the accident: one dead, 64 slightly and eight seriously injured people, including the driver. He is being charged with manslaughter and bodily harm. But the investigations are dropped because the cause of the accident was apparently a stroke.
Verena Wagner, it turned out later, even suffered a fracture of the twelfth thoracic vertebra. She was threatened with paraplegia, which could be prevented with two operations.
She loses her previous job before the second operation. Her employer fired her for fear of permanent disability and frequent sick leave. She never wants to get on a bus again.
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Cover photo: Montage: private, Jan Woitas/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
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