THE driver of a car that crashed in a head-on collision in Germany which saw five Scots hospitalised has been suspected of drunk driving by police.
The German police force issued a statement on the crash, which happened in the early hours at Weeze, Germany, after five Scottish football fans were injured as the driver of their car drove on the wrong side of the road.
Police believe the 25-year-old man drove on the wrong side of the road towards oncoming traffic “due to the left-hand traffic in his home country”.
The statement also said the driver who caused the accident was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol and a blood sample has been taken from him in the hospital.
The fan, along with four mates who are aged between 23 and 25, hired a Citroen C3 which crashed head-on into a Mercedes Benz S-Class outside Weeze Airport, near Dusseldorf.
The driver and a 23-year-old passenger in the same car are described as seriously injured.
The other three men and the 45-year-old driver of the Mercedes were also injured and taken to hospital.
Emergency crews, including several ambulances, attended the scene outside a travel hub at around 00.10am this morning.
The five football fans had left Edinburgh Airport on Thursday evening and were en route to support Scotland at the Euros before the collision early on Friday morning.
The German police have launched a probe into the crash.
In full, the German police statement read: “On Friday (June 14, 2024) at around 00:10 am, a traffic accident occurred on the airport ring in Weeze, in which two people were seriously injured and four people were slightly injured.
“A 25-year-old Scotsman was traveling with four other men from Scotland (25, 23, 23 and 23 years old) in a rental car, a Citroen C3, after arriving at the airport to travel on to Düsseldorf.
“The five men were a group of friends who had traveled to Germany for UEFA Euro 2024. On the way from the terminal towards the exit, the man from Scotland drove in the lane for oncoming traffic.
“This resulted in a head-on collision with a Mercedes Benz S-Class driven by a 45-year-old man from Düsseldorf who was traveling towards the terminal.
“Based on the investigations as part of the accident report, it is suspected that the Scottish driver used the wrong lane due to the left-hand traffic in his home country.
“The driver of the Citroen and a 23-year-old passenger were seriously injured in the accident, while the driver of the Daimler-Benz and three other people in the Citroen were slightly injured.
“All of the people were taken to various hospitals in the region by the emergency services.
“As the driver who caused the accident was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol, a blood sample was taken from him in the hospital.
“The Citroen was seized to protect the property.”
