On a section of the A2 motorway near Gütersloh, more than a dozen cars were involved in traffic accidents in the rain on Sunday afternoon.
At least seven people were injured.
The fire brigade reports of 15 cars involved and seven seriously injured occupants, including one critically injured.
According to their initial findings, the police had previously spoken of 16 cars as well as one seriously injured and six slightly injured.
According to witnesses, it was raining in the area of the A2 between the Gütersloh rest area and the Gütersloh exit when there were several rear-end collisions, as a police spokesman said. The A2 in the direction of Hanover was blocked for hours between the Rheda-Wiedenbrück and Gütersloh junctions to rescue the injured and recover the vehicles involved. Therefore, a kilometer-long traffic jam formed. The area was closed early on Sunday evening.
The fire brigade, which was alerted around 3:10 p.m., reported an accident site about 50 to 100 meters long.
In the three-lane area, a field of rubble therefore extended to one and a half to two lanes.
A fire department spokesman said a tent had been set up to initially shelter people from the weather until they were spotted by the emergency doctors.
About 50 firefighters and about the same number of rescue workers were on site.
The seriously injured were brought to the hospital by ambulance, the fire department said.
A rescue helicopter was not used.
A total of 23 people were in the 15 cars involved.
In addition to the seriously injured, several other people were also taken to the hospital for further examination.