Six Germans killed in Italy car accident

Rome, January 5

Six Germans were killed when a car ploughed into them after they left a nightclub in the Italian Alps on Sunday, emergency services said, adding that 11 others were injured.

Media reports said the driver may have been drunk.

The accident happened at around 1:15 am (0015 GMT) in the village of Lutago near the Austrian border in the South Tyrol region, which is popular with skiers.

The group of Germans had spent the evening at the nightclub and were near their bus when the car slammed into them at high-speed.

Some of them were propelled dozens of metres by the impact. Six Germans were killed, a fire service official in Lutago said. Eleven other people were injured, including two from the region.

Two who were in a very serious condition were flown by helicopter to a hospital in Innsbruck in Austria. The nine others were taken to regional hospitals.

According to Rainews24, the driver was a 28-year-old man who lived locally and who “may have had a high level of alcohol in his blood”. He was arrested and put in hospital under a police guard.

More than 150 emergency workers were mobilised following the tragedy, and a field hospital was set up by the roadside to provide first aid. — AFP