Black ice hits Germany, resulting in accidents

BERLIN: People in Germany were slip, sliding away on the country’s streets and roads overnight as black ice provoked several accidents nationwide.

By early Sunday morning, police in the east German state of Saxony had already counted 32 accidents and there were mishaps elsewhere.

In the capital Berlin, many emergency rooms were overcapacity with people coming in with various bone breaks due to the icy conditions, the Tagesspiegel newspaper reported on Sunday.

The German Weather Service expects slippery conditions to remain until mid-morning, especially in the country’s centre. It could drizzle, which would then freeze on the ground.

But warmer temperatures are expected by midday, which should melt the black ice.

A spokesman for the Saxony police said officers “were mainly busy with these accidents.” In one case in Zwickau in the south, a driver collided with a traffic sign due to the slippery road surface.

Investigators estimate the damage at around €23,000 ($27,000). The driver was not injured.

In eastern Hesse a 19-year-old lost control of his car due to slippery conditions. The car rolled over several times, according to police.

Paramedics took the driver and his 20-year-old passenger, both of whom were seriously injured, to hospital.

In southern Hesse, an 18-year-old woman lost control of her car while passing another vehicle on a winter-slippery road and drove down an embankment, crashing into a tree.

Her passenger was slightly injured and was treated by paramedics at the scene of the accident, police said.

There had already been numerous accidents on Friday night and Saturday morning due to slippery roads, especially in the north of the country.