Debris is scattered across an old airplane runway, and the shock is great.

At a biker meeting in northern Brandenburg, three men on two motorcycles died.

After the accident at the former military airfield near Wittstock/Dosse on Saturday, the police gave initial insights into the process.

The two motorcycles involved are said to have approached each other on the concrete runway at an unexplained speed, as a police spokesman said on Sunday.

There was a side contact and the serious accident.

A 46-year-old motorcyclist from Wittstock, who was riding alone, and a 47-year-old biker from Haldensleben (Saxony-Anhalt) crashed their bikes and died.

On the 47-year-old's machine was a 35-year-old man from Norderstedt (Segeberg district) in Schleswig-Holstein as a passenger, who was also fatally injured, as the spokesman said.

Around 50 motorcyclists from several federal states met at the disused Alt Daber airfield near Wittstock on Saturday.

Not the first accident on the site

A Dekra expert is to determine further findings on the cause of the accident.

The witnesses probably heard a bang, but so far said they could not have observed the accident, said police operations manager Amadeo Pogalz.

He did not comment on a report in the "Bild" newspaper and the question of whether the motorcyclists might want to pass a test of courage.

According to him, possible videos of the accident on social networks are also checked.

At what speed did the motorcycles approach each other?

The police had to wait for the accident report first, said the operations manager.

The former military airfield Alt Daber dates back to the Nazi era.

It lies on the state border with Mecklenburg and was used by the Soviet Army from 1945 to 1994.

The historic barracks are falling into disrepair and there is a huge solar park on the site.

But the wide runway is still freely accessible.

Whether there will be consequences, such as making access to the old concrete runway more difficult, remained unclear on Sunday.

Police head of operations Pogalz said discussions should follow on how to prevent such serious accidents and whether obstacles should be set up there.

It was not the first accident on the site.