A bus headed for Switzerland crashes off a German highway, killing 4 people

BERLIN (AP) — Four people were killed Wednesday when a bus headed from Berlin to Switzerland drove off a highway in eastern Germany and ended up on its side, police said.

The accident happened on the A9 highway near Leipzig at about 9:45 a.m, less than two hours after the bus left Berlin. It was en route to Zurich and operated by Flixbus, the dominant long-distance bus operator in Germany.

Police initially said that at least five people were killed, but later revised the figure to four. They said a person initially reported to them as dead was in a life-threatening condition.

Six people were seriously injured and 29 lightly injured, they said. Many people were taken to nearby hospitals.

There were 54 people on board the bus at the time of the crash, including two drivers — a 62-year-old from the Czech Republic and a 53-year-old from Slovakia.

The cause of the accident wasn't immediately clear. Police said there was no indication that any other vehicle was involved, and the driver wasn't among those killed.

Police officers stand by a tent at the scene of the accident on the A9, near Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday March 27. 2024. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

Police said late Wednesday they couldn't yet give information on the ages and nationalities of the victims, and that the identification of the dead hadn't yet been completed.

They said they have opened an investigation on suspicion of negligent manslaughter.

The A9 is a major north-south route that links Berlin with Munich. The accident happened on a straight stretch of the road just north of a highway interchange at Schkeuditz, next to the Leipzig/Halle airport.

The highway was fully reopened Wednesday evening, nearly 12 hours after the crash.

The luggage of the passengers involved in the accident are still on the bus at the scene of the accident on the A9, near Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday March 27. 2024. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

A view of the bus at the scene of the accident on the A9, near Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday March 27. 2024. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

A view of the bus at the scene of the accident on the A9, near Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday March 27. 2024. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

Police officers stand in front of the bus at the scene of the accident on the A9, near Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday March 27. 2024. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

A view of the bus at the scene of the accident on the A9, near Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday March 27. 2024. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

Emergency vehicles and rescue helicopters are seen at the scene of the accident on the A9, near Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday March 27, 2024. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

Emergency vehicles and a rescue helicopter work at the scene of the accident on the A9, near Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday, March 27. 2024. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

A rescue helicopter from the German Air Rescue Service (DRF) is in action over the scene of the accident on the A9, near Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday, March 27. 2024. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

A coach lies overturned on its side at the scene of an accident on the A9, near Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday March 27. 2024. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

A coach lies overturned on its side at the scene of an accident on the A9, near Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday March 27. 2024. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

Emergency vehicles and rescue helicopters are seen at the scene of the accident on the A9, near Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday March 27, 2024. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

Emergency vehicles and rescue helicopters are at the scene of the accident on the A9, near Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday March 27. 2024. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

BERLIN (AP) — The German parliament voted Thursday to introduce an annual national “veterans' day” to honor people who have served in the military, which often has struggled to gain recognition in the country.

The proposal was drawn up by the parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-party governing coalition together with the main opposition conservative bloc, and was approved by nearly all parties in the Bundestag, parliament's lower house.

It says a “veterans' day” should be celebrated “publicly and visibly” every June 15. It also calls for improved follow-up care for people wounded while serving in the German military, the Bundeswehr.

The motion “is a strong, important and, yes, an overdue signal of recognition and appreciation,” Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told lawmakers.

Post-World War II Germany has generally been uncomfortable with militarism and war, and the country emerged slowly from its postwar military shell after reunification in 1990. Then-Chancellor Helmut Kohl broke a taboo against German troops serving abroad by sending military medics to support the U.N. mission in Cambodia in 1992.

More robust military deployments abroad, for example in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Mali, later became a mainstay of the Bundeswehr's activities.

In 2008, Germany introduced a new military decoration for bravery, giving troops the possibility of earning such an honor for the first time since World War II. A memorial to soldiers killed while serving in the Bundeswehr was built at the Defense Ministry in Berlin and inaugurated in 2009.

But even now, “the word ‘veteran’ is little used in our society, and this must come to an end,” said Johannes Arlt, a lawmaker with Scholz's center-left Social Democrats who has served as an air force officer. “We need more visibility and we need more recognition for our soldiers and veterans, and that's why we need a veterans' day in Germany.”

The Bundeswehr was founded in 1955, serving first as West Germany’s military and, since 1990, as that of the reunited Germany. More than 10 million people have served in it over the decades.

Germany launched a drive to modernize the Bundeswehr and increase its military spending shortly after Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

FILE - A soldier is seen in front of the 'Military Memorial of the German Bundeswehr' in Berlin Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009. The German parliament voted Thursday for the introduction of an annual national “veterans' day” to honor the service of people who have served in the military, which often has struggled to gain recognition in the country. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)