Drama in Innsbruck

Accident at construction site: person hit by train

A serious incident occurred at the BBT construction site (archive image).

(Bild: Christof Birbaumer/Kronenzeitung, Krone KREATIV)

A worker was hit by a construction train in a serious accident at the Brenner Base Tunnel construction site in Innsbruck's Sillschlucht gorge on Thursday afternoon. The man was fatally injured.

The accident occurred at around 3.30 p.m. on the H41 Sillschlucht-Pfons construction site in the main tunnel east. The 57-year-old man had been carrying out surveying work, confirmed BBT spokesperson Andreas Ambrosi.

Cause of accident unknown
At the same time, another worker was driving a 36-metre-long construction site train, which was delivering material to the tunnel boring machine, into the tunnel. For reasons as yet unknown, the 57-year-old was hit by the transport locomotive.

Autopsy ordered
The alarm chain was set in motion immediately. The emergency services, fire department and police were quickly on the scene. However, according to the police, the emergency doctor who was alerted was only able to determine that the accident victim had died. The public prosecutor's office in Innsbruck ordered an autopsy. Once the investigations have been completed, reports will be submitted to the public prosecutor's office, the responsible safety authority and the labor inspectorate, it said.

The workers on the construction site were assisted by a crisis intervention team, according to the Brenner Base Tunnel company BBT SE, which expressed its condolences to the family and relatives of the deceased.