Mystery deaths within hours of each other prompts shutdown of Germany parcel depot

‘I just saw that the driver was lying with his head in the passenger seat,’ eyewitness says

Firefighters search for poisonous substance in Haldensleben, eastern Germany (EPA)

Two men have reportedly died at a parcel depot in eastern Germany, causing emergency services to shut the site over fears of the presence toxic substances. A third man has fallen seriously ill.

A 58-year-old collapsed and died in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Later that afternoon, a 45-year old was found dead in the driver’s seat of a transport vehicle.

As a result work at the Hermes facility in the town of Haldensleben was, according to the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper.

Emergency services at the scene are searching for possible poisonous substances. It is unclear whether the deaths are linked.

“I passed by there...I just saw that the driver was lying with his head in the passenger seat,” an eyewitness told the newspaper.

Police officers said the third man who fell ill was affected by a “normal medical emergency.”

The site was shut down and the local fire department launched a large scale operation at the site, with 120 firefighters in protective clothing checking for toxic substances at the site.

Investigators discovered small amounts of toxic substances but none in large quantities, in the vehicle where the second man was found.

Due to the fears of toxicity, the victims’ post mortems have been delayed. The examinations will proceed once the site has been investigated.

A police spokesperson said authorities were uncertain as to when the operation would conclude.

“Our task is to....inform [employees about] what actually happened here, so that they can go back to work,” said Andreas Stumpf, the managing director of Hermes. “We do not want to speculate,” a Hermes spokesperson said, when first asked about the deaths."

He added that the company’s "thoughts are with the deceased and their families.”