Five Scotland fans in hospital after crashing hire car near German airport

FIVE Scotland fans were rushed to hospital after their hired car crashed within minutes of landing at a German airport.

Two of the occupants are in a serious condition and three others were described as slightly injured.

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It’s thought their rental Citroen C3 was being driven on the left – rather than the right – as it exited Weeze Airport, in the Lower Rhine region, just after midnight.

The ages of the injured Scots were give as two 25-year-olds and three 23-year-olds.

Ryanair operate flights to Scotland from the airport.

The car was involved in a head-on collision with a Mercedes Benz S Class, being driven by a 45-year-old man from Dusseldorf, who was also slightly injured.

A police statement said: “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.”

Dusseldorf Police said the young men were all in Germany for the Euro 2024 football championships.

Police said their immediate destination was Dusseldorf.

A spokesman for the Forerign Office in London said: “We are supporting a number of British nationals following an incident in Germany and are in contact with the local authorities”.

Images on local media showed the horror of the crash scene.

It was reported that emergency crews, including four ambulances, were sent to the crash.

Casualties were seen being treated on the roadway and neighbouring grass verges.

The British Consulate in Munich last month estimated that 200,000 Scotland fans were making their way to Germany for the tournament.

For each game, the Tartan Army has been granted just 10,000 tickets.

Police in Dusseldorf said a blood sample was taken from the driver, as he was suspected of drink-driving. The hired car was also seized.

Their statement added: “On Friday June 14, at around 00:10 a.m., 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 travelling 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 travelled 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.”