Julian Draxler and F1 driver Nico Rosberg involved in a car accident in Italy

Benedikt Höwedes and Julian Draxler

Schalke players Julian Draxler and Benedikt Howedes were involved in an accident in Italy.

German Internationals Julian Draxler and Benedikt Howedes were involved in a car accident on Tuesday, the Guardian has confirmed.

The two Schalke players were passengers in two separate vehicles, one driven by Mercedes DTM driver Pascal Wehrlein and the other by Formula 1 driver Nico Rosberg who were filming a promotional advert.

Four of them were unharmed, however, two people were rushed to a hospital after being struck by the car which was driven by Wehrlein in northern Italy's South Tyrol region.

The road has now been closed for public use. [Photo Courtesy: AFP]
The road has now been closed by the Italian police officials for public use. [Photo by: AFP]

In a statement released by Mercedes Motorsport on their official Facebook page, it was stated: “An accident occurred during a visit to the training camp of the German National Football Team: while driving on a closed circuit, DTM driver Pascal Wehrlein injured two people whom he unexpectedly encountered walking on the closed course. We cannot offer any statement concerning the severity of injuries, as both injured parties are currently undergoing medical treatment. Pascal Wehrlein was uninjured in the accident.”

“We deeply regret this accident and send wishes of quick recovery to the injured. We will work in full cooperation with the authorities in determining the exact circumstances of the accident.”

Nicola Pohl, a reporter at BILD has revealed that one of the two victims was a 63 years-old man who had sever head injuries, while the second victim, a marshal, was slightly injured.

Monaco Grand Prix winner Rosberg later took to Twitter to express his thoughts:

Owning to the incident, head coach of the German National team Joachim Löw has called off a scheduled training, and both Draxler and Howedes have returned their training camps to continue their World Cup preparations ahead of their friendly against Cameroon on Sunday.

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