Düsseldorf – In the Werstener Tunnel on the A46 at Düsseldorf A car caught fire late Saturday evening. Two people were seriously injured.
A car caught fire in the Werstener Tunnel on the A46 near Düsseldorf late on Saturday evening. (Symbolic image) © Henning Kaiser/dpa
According to the fire department of the NRW state capital, the first emergency services arrived at the scene of the accident just a few minutes after the alarm was raised at around 11:13 p.m. At this point, black smoke was already pouring out of the tunnel portal.
The rescue team immediately checked all pipes and cross connections to locate the burning vehicle. The fire itself was quickly brought under control.
Fortunately, the two 20-year-old occupants of the accident vehicle had already managed to get to safety at the exit of the tunnel before the rescuers arrived. They were cared for by an emergency doctor and then taken to a hospital.
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According to a police spokesman, the car crashed into the right and left walls of the tunnel late on Saturday evening for reasons that are still unclear before it suddenly caught fire.
As the operation continued, the firefighters, wearing breathing apparatus, checked the heavily smoke-filled tunnel for other people and vehicles. However, the all-clear was quickly given.
After the tunnel’s own ventilation system had cleared the smoke from the motorway underpass, the comrades handed the site over to a person in charge at Autobahn GmbH.
The A46 remained closed in both directions for around three hours while the operation was ongoing. A total of 50 firefighters were on site.
