The key facts

  • At around 22:22 on November 3, approximately 200 stones were dropped from an overpass in the Stellingen district; the initial report said at least six cars were damaged, with media later citing eight.
  • The autobahn was closed for about an hour in both directions, and rail traffic above the highway was also suspended.
  • Two days earlier, on November 1, a similar incident occurred on the same A7, and the attackers were not found.

Rockfall on the A7 autobahn

In Hamburg, two Ukrainian nationals aged 14 and 18 dropped around 200 fist-sized stones from a railway overpass onto the busy A7 autobahn. The incident was reported by the local outlet Nordtv24, with details provided by Life.ru citing Hamburg police data. The incident occurred on November 3 at around 22:22 in the Stellingen district, near the autobahn tunnel of the same name. Vehicles driving by were damaged by the flying gravel: the initial police report mentioned at least six damaged cars, but German media later put the figure at eight. Some drivers had their windshields shattered.

Road closure and detention

After the first reports from motorists, emergency services closed the autobahn in both directions for about an hour to clear the stones and examine the scene; major traffic jams formed. Rail traffic on the railway section above the highway was also temporarily suspended. Around a dozen police patrols were sent to search for the offenders — the suspects were found near the overpass and taken to a police station. However, after being identified, both were released: the 18-year-old was let go, and the 14-year-old was handed over to his mother. The state criminal police office is handling the investigation and is checking whether the detainees may have been involved in other similar incidents in Hamburg.

A similar case two days earlier

This was not the only such incident on the highway in a short period. On the evening of November 1, unknown attackers threw stones at cars on a section of the A7 between the Barenfeld and Volkspark interchanges: two vehicles were damaged with shattered windshields, and a 27-year-old passenger in one of the cars suffered cuts to her hand from flying shards. The drivers, aged 25 and 47, contacted the police, but the attackers could not be found at the time. Police are now determining whether the teenagers detained on November 3 were also involved in that case.