Drama on the A81: Tanker truck accident caused closure for hours!

Drama on the A81: Tanker truck accident caused closure for hours!

Yesterday, Monday afternoon, there was a dangerous situation on Autobahn 81 between Sulz am Neckar and Empfingen. A truck loaded with 30 to 35 cubic meters of toluene, a harmful solvent, swerved, hit the guardrail and overturned. Fortunately, the driver was able to get to safety and only suffered minor injuries. Little is known about the exact cause of the accident, but investigations are ongoing.

As a result of the accident, the highway was completely closed in both directions and traffic was diverted. The closure in the direction of Stuttgart was lifted on Tuesday evening, while the backlog situation along the route still caused traffic disruptions. The section towards Singen was particularly affected, where parts of the motorway were melted by the heat of the fire. On Tuesday morning there were traffic jams between Mühlheim and Empfingen.

Large-scale rescue operation

On Monday evening, when the fire was brought under control around 8 p.m., around 320 emergency services and 60 emergency vehicles from the fire department, German Red Cross, THW and police were on duty. These comprehensive measures were coordinated by fire brigade commander Dieter Eger. The extinguishing work took around four hours and involved the use of fire-fighting foam to avoid environmental damage caused by the fire-fighting water.

The rescue and cleaning measures at the accident site lasted until the afternoon of the following day and entailed additional requirements. The pumping of the unburned toluene was completed on Tuesday morning and in this context the fire brigade was also able to locate the storm overflow basin under the motorway bridge, which was contaminated with contaminated extinguishing water.

Warnings for residents

As a precaution, residents in the area were asked to keep their windows and doors closed as toluene has an offensive smell. Although the odor and smoke pollution had been noticed, limit values ​​could not be exceeded, which calmed the situation. However, an alert has been issued for a 15 kilometer radius to ensure that all possible precautions are taken.

The operation was completed with the support of the BASF factory fire department, which provided helpful assistance via the Transport Accident Information and Assistance System (TUIS). The exact sequence of events and further investigations into the accident will continue to be closely monitored by the authorities in order to clarify the causes and prevent future incidents of a similar nature.

Overall, the incident remains an impressive testimony to the dangers inherent in road traffic and the efficiency with which emergency services respond in an emergency.

For more information about the events surrounding this accident, also take a look at the reporting from World and NRWZ.