One person died in a rear-end collision on the A4 near Wilsdruff (Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains district) on Friday. "The person who caused the accident succumbed to his injuries here at the scene of the accident," police chief inspector Enrico Behrendt told the German Press Agency. According to police, at around 5.50 a.m. on Friday, a lorry hit the end of a traffic jam at the Nossen freeway junction almost without braking and pushed a second lorry onto a third.
One of the lorries had been carrying 24 tons of nitrogen, the officer said. This had leaked, which also posed a risk to road traffic. "The nitrogen can penetrate the sewer system and make the road surface very slippery and icy," said Behrendt.
The other people involved in the accident were reportedly uninjured, but were shocked. One of the trucks was only so slightly damaged that it was able to continue driving after the accident.
After the accident, the highway was fully closed in both directions between the Wilsdruff junction and the Nossen interchange. The lane in the direction of Eisenach was reopened at midday. There was an increased volume of traffic in Dresden and Meißen due to detour that had been set up.
