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The police have cordoned off the scene of the accident on Leipziger Strasse
Photo:
Pierce Adler/dpa
A fatal accident occurred on Saturday morning in the middle of Berlin, on the busy Leipziger Straße.
A driver probably pushed past a traffic jam far too quickly.
A 41-year-old tourist from Belgium and her four-year-old son, who was sitting in a stroller, had no chance of avoiding the car.
"Witnesses report that the 83-year-old driver was traveling at significantly excessive speed," the Berlin police spokeswoman told SPIEGEL on Sunday.
The speed may have been “in the three-digit range” and the permitted speed was 30 kilometers per hour.
However, further investigations would have to show whether the witness statement was correct, said the spokeswoman.
The car has been seized and an expert report will follow.
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The 83-year-old was probably not only traveling too fast, but also violated traffic rules.
Due to a construction site in front of the Federal Council, the lanes on Leipziger Strasse were narrowed and a traffic jam had formed.
Instead of catching up at the end of the traffic jam, the 83-year-old in his Ford Mondeo pulled to the right into the cycle lane, according to police and witnesses.
At the same time, the 41-year-old mother was crossing the street with the stroller between the cars waiting in a traffic jam and was hit head-on by the accident car.
Both were seriously injured and later died in hospital.
The relatives had to witness the accident
After the collision, the 83-year-old crashed his car into a Skoda.
He in turn hit a BMW that was waiting at a red light.
The person who caused the accident, who was slightly injured, was taken to a clinic for outpatient treatment.
The police spokeswoman said he voluntarily took a breath alcohol test.
This resulted in a value of 0.0 per mille.
The accident was witnessed by the 41-year-old's partner and the woman's sister.
They were also taken to the clinic in shock, the police spokeswoman said.
kek/dpa