Three motorcyclists are killed in high-speed game of ‘chicken’ at German biker event 

Three German motorcyclists have died in a collision that police believe was the result of a game of ‘chicken’ where riders speed towards one another challenging the other to be the first to swerve away.

The accident occurred on Saturday during a meeting of bikers organised by the Knieschleifer (Kneesliders) motorcycle club at a former airfield in Brandenburg, northwest of Berlin.

While other bikers were performing wheelies, taking pictures and admiring each others’ machines, two bikes headed to opposing sides of the airfield’s asphalt runway.

One was being ridden by a 46-year-old from the area, while the other had two riders, a 47-year-old controlling the bike with a 36-year-old riding pillion, possibly filming.

None of the bikers said they witnessed what happened next but heard tyres screaming and a loud collision.

‘When we arrived there was a huge field of debris scattered over 150 metres,’ Matthias Krüger of the Wittstock fire brigade said according to the Times. ‘Three people lay on the ground lifeless. The colleagues from the ambulance service and we immediately conducted resuscitation measures.’

None of the bikers said they witnessed what happened but heard tyres screaming and a loud collision (file picture)

‘We as members of the fire brigade often see suffering and misery, but even for our experienced colleagues a scene like this is unusual,’ Krüger said.

It was not clear how fast the motorbikes had been travelling but they appeared to have made a glancing impact, a police spokesman said.

Transport safety experts are reconstructing the incident as part of their investigation.

The airfield was used by the Soviet army after 1945 and abandoned when the Soviets withdrew from the country in 1994. The runway is still freely accessible and is regularly used by bikers.