Three crashes on the A44: Traffic chaos in the Whirlpool

Three accidents on the A44 motorway caused prolonged traffic chaos in the Whirlpool. Two people were seriously injured.

Whirl – Three accidents occurred on the A44 motorway on Wednesday. I twice crashed into the backwater from the first accident. Among other things, a Dutch truck loaded with nine new BMW cars collided with a trailer tractor. Two men were seriously injured in the three accidents in the Cruz Whirlpool and Cruz Una-Ost region. There was traffic chaos for hours.

First, at around 7:15 am, a 7.5-ton truck entered the bridge on the motorway in the direction of Dortmund. Approximately at the level of the Lüner Grund rest area, the truck started swaying, then veered off the road to the right and crashed into the bridge. Then the truck overturned on its left side.

Accidents on the A44: complete shutdown after use of a rescue helicopter

Paramedics were able to free the driver from the cabin and care for them until rescue workers arrived. A rescue helicopter has been ordered. It was not necessary to take the driver with her, but rather he was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

The next accident occurred in secluded waters. A semi-trailer truck and a van full of the new BMW cars collided between the Werl Junction and the Haarstrang-Nord tank and rest area. The driver of the tanker was seriously injured, and the new cars and two trucks were badly damaged. Damage is likely to run into hundreds of thousands.

A44: An accident in a stagnant state – a truck with new cars standing sideways

The semi-trailer slowed down in the build-up of the first accidents, and the pickup car hit it shortly before the rest stopped. The truck veered and blocked both lanes. One of the new BMW cars fell into the ditch.

Rescue workers were alerted around 9:45 am and remained on duty until 11.15 am. Chief of Defense Carsten Corte said the driver could have been freed from the driver’s cabin without any technical equipment. The driver was taken to hospital with more serious injuries. The driver of the other truck was slightly injured.

Corti says the seriously injured man was really lucky, and the bump of the car’s transmission above the driver’s cabin appears to protect the driver’s cabin from more serious damage.

Some of the new BMW cars in the truck were badly damaged. Shortly after 11 am, the fire brigade was able to use the rescue vehicle to move the truck so far so that at least one lane could be freed again.

Another accident in secluded waters on the A44: the truck entered the car

A private company had to recover the transport vehicle. In the stagnant water that followed, there was another accident. A truck collided with a car and was pushed in front of it. No one is hurt.

The accidents caused major obstacles to traffic in the Whirlpool area. After the rescue, traffic had to be driven on Interstate 44 after the accident site in one lane for hours.

Alternative roads B1, A445 and B63 in a significant direction were congested, with traffic jams for hours for several kilometers.