Severe icy conditions caused by freezing rain created dangerous roads on Friday morning in northern North Rhine-Westphalia and western Lower Saxony. According to police, hundreds of accidents occurred across the region, some of them fatal. On the A44 motorway near Paderborn in North Rhine-Westphalia, three people were killed in a series of crashes, according to initial information.
In northwestern Lower Saxony, the German Weather Service issued severe weather warnings for freezing rain. Police in Osnabrück reported “several hundred icy-road accidents” and described the situation as “almost catastrophic.” Officers urged people to stay at home, saying roads as well as footpaths and cycle paths were currently “slick as glass.”
“Vehicles are losing traction uncontrollably, even at low speed,” police said. “Any journey can be dangerous.” Conditions were similar in the areas overseen by police in Cloppenburg and Lingen; authorities in Cloppenburg reported numerous accidents due to “extreme icy conditions.” Schools in several districts of Lower Saxony were closed because of the severe weather.
On the A44 south of Paderborn, police reported 18 accidents during the night and morning. Two of them were fatal. A small truck collided with a trailer loaded with paper, which then caught fire; the driver of the smaller vehicle died. In another incident between Marsberg and Lichtenau, police said a car drove into a truck, killing two people.
Eleven more people were slightly injured, according to police in Bielefeld. The motorway in that area remained closed in both directions on Friday morning for an indefinite period. “Emergency operations are in full swing,” police said.
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