In Hesse, winter has further consequences for passengers, train and car drivers. Freezing rain and ice cause chaos on the streets in the morning. Frankfurt Airport is struggling with failures and long waiting times.
Frankfurt / Main (dpa / lhe) - Slippery, snowfall, freezing rain: As a result of the winter weather, there have been numerous traffic accidents in Hesse. In northern Hesse alone, it crashed around 170 times by Monday afternoon, according to a spokesman for the police headquarters in Kassel. Bus and train drivers as well as passengers at Frankfurt Airport had to be patient. School lessons were canceled in many places. The German Weather Service (DWD) had warned people in Hesse because of the freezing rain to avoid being outdoors if possible or at least to be careful and careful when traveling.
As of midday, around 190 flights had been canceled at Germany's largest airport in Frankfurt, a spokeswoman said. More of the approximately 1,100 flights could still lose their take-off authorization. Due to the black ice, there could be longer waiting times in all terminals. Passengers were asked to find out more from the airlines' websites and to show up around two and a half hours before the flight departed.
In the area of the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV), bus traffic was particularly affected by cancellations and delays, according to the association's website. In some cases, bus operations have been completely discontinued. In rail traffic, there are only a few cancellations and delays. In Frankfurt, all bus lines as well as subways and trams are affected, the Frankfurt transport company VGF announced on Monday. She also warned of the formation of black ice at bus stops. The VGF expected restrictions until Monday noon.
According to the current status, around 170 accidents have occurred from the four north Hessian districts and the city of Kassel, said a spokesman for the police headquarters in North Hesse. The focus was Kassel with around 100 accidents. "Most accidents happened on the way to work. The phone is ringing every minute," said the spokesman. But the number of injuries is small. For the driver of a sprinter, however, an accident in the Schwalm-Eder district ended in the hospital: According to the police, the man left the road and crashed into another car, suffering minor injuries.
In central Hesse, the police in the four districts of Gießen, Marburg-Biedenkopf, the Lahn-Dill district and in the Wetterau counted around 70 accidents by early morning, with only minor injuries and body damage, as a spokesman for the Police in Gießen said. In western Hesse, too, there were numerous accidents early in the morning, with eight people being slightly injured and body damage remaining, as the police headquarters in Wiesbaden announced.
Southern Hesse also reported numerous slippery accidents. As the police in Darmstadt announced, there have been around 66 traffic accidents since 4 a.m. According to initial findings, it crashed particularly often on Autobahn 5. In Weiterstadt, Darmstadt and Pfungstadt, three winter service vehicles slipped on a slippery road and crashed into parked vehicles.
