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full screen Photo: Matthias Schrader / AP
Four people died in the Flixbus crash on the German Autobahn.
The bus manager, Pavel Steiner, claims that they would have survived if they had been wearing seat belts.
– We had an experienced man at the wheel, the bus was the most modern available and had been inspected in January. And yet four people died, he tells Bild.
A bus from the company Flixbus was on its way from German Berlin to Swiss Zurich on Maundy Thursday.
At 09.45 something happened that caused the bus to skid off the Autobahn, collided with a tree and overturned in the ditch outside Leipzig.
52 people were on board. Four died, six were seriously injured and 29 people were slightly injured.
The bus was driven by the transport company Umbrella Mobility on behalf of Flixbus. Pavel Steiner is CEO of Umbrella Mobility and says in an interview with the German newspaper Picture that the dead should have been wearing seat belts, reports De Telegraaf with reference to Image.
– It is an incredible tragedy, I am devastated. We had an experienced man at the wheel, the bus was the most modern available and had been inspected in January. And yet four people died, says Steiner and continues:
– It’s terrible, but I have to say that if people had used their seat belts, everyone would still be alive, he says.
Accusing the driver
What caused the accident is unclear and an investigation is ongoing. According to the German Public Prosecutor’s Office, the driver is currently suspected of causing the death of another and causing bodily harm.
According to Picture the driver has been accused by passengers of driving the wrong way before the crash, braking quickly and talking loudly to the other driver who was sitting next to the driver’s seat.
Pavel Steiner tells Bild that the driver does not remember what happened. He should have been rested and had five days off before the accident.
– He was unconscious and remembers nothing about the accident, says Steiner.
According to Steiner, he should have neither fallen asleep nor talked on the mobile phone.
All surviving passengers must be questioned about what happened when the accident occurred.
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full screen Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd / AP