The Herborn truck

Shocking memorial

Shocking memorial

The wreck is a reminder about the necessity to handle the risks of the technology responsibly.

The fuel leaked out and seeped into the sewerage system. Shortly afterwards the tanker exploded, then the fuel-gas mixture ignited in the sewerage system. There were explosions at several places in the city. The sad outcome of this disaster: Five deaths caused by the fire and flying debris, one death due to a heart attack, 38 injured (including 8 firefighters), approximately 9 million € material damage.

The accident happened because several individual circumstances came together: The route was very dangerous, the brakes didn't work properly and the overtired driver attempted too late to slow down by down shifting gears.