A woman driving an Audi A6 who reportedly went head to head with another motorist in Germany before crashing and killing two children is suspected of having been involved in an illegal car race.
Police in Germany are looking into whether the alleged illegal street race was what caused the fatal, multi-vehicle crash that claimed the lives of two boys aged just 2 and 6 and injured at least three other people.
The incident took place in Barsinghausen, which is a town near Hannover, in the state of Lower Saxony, in north-western Germany, on Friday afternoon (25th February), at approximately 4:20pm.
The police said that a 39-year-old woman driver, who has not been named, crashed into several oncoming cars in what they suspect was an illegal street race.
It appears so far that the 39-year-old woman driver attempted to overtake another car, a Cupra-Formentor driven by an unnamed motorist, but who is also said to be 39 years old, on a bend, with both cars alleged to have raced side by side for what has been described in German media as a significant period of time.
The 39-year-old Audi driver is said to have first collided with an oncoming Mercedes driven by an unnamed 50-year-old man, who came off the road and ended up in a field. He was hospitalised in a serious condition.
The Audi is then said to have collided with the Nissan Qashqai being driven by the father of the two deceased children, unnamed but said to be 37 years old. The boys’ 29-year-old mother, also unnamed, was also in the car at the time.
The force of the collision appears to have ripped the Nissan’s roof almost clean off, with the car ending up on its side in a field, as can be seen in these tragic photographs.
A 74-year-old man who was driving directly behind the family was also hit by the Audi but he luckily escaped unharmed, according to local media.
Witnesses immediately alerted the emergency services after the fatal accident, with German authorities arranging multiple ambulances and helicopters that were deployed to the scene.
The trapped family of four had to be cut out of the car by the fire department, while police officers attempted to revive the two-year-old and six-year-old boys at the scene.
The two-year-old boy was pronounced dead at the scene. The six-year-old boy was taken to hospital but sadly passed away that night due to the severity of his injuries, the details of which remain unclear.
The parents of the two deceased children are currently being treated in a serious condition in different hospitals.
The 39-year-old woman driver was also hospitalised with a serious condition, while the Cupra Formentor driver is said to have escaped unharmed.
The police have opened an investigation for negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and illegal motor vehicle racing.
They have asked witnesses with information about the accident to contact the authorities. It is currently unclear if any formal charges have been brought by prosecutors.
