Vehicle caught fire

Crane truck falls from bridge and catches fire

The crane truck that fell from a highway bridge near Villach caught fire.(Bild: BFKDO-Villach Stadt)

A crane truck fell over the highway bridge at the Villach-West highway junction. The vehicle caught fire. The site is difficult to access and the driver was difficult to rescue. He succumbed to his serious injuries.

The spectacular accident on the Tauernautobahn (A10) near Villach-West took place shortly after 4 a.m. on Thursday morning and required a large contingent of emergency services. On the Salzburg-bound carriageway, a crane truck belonging to a recovery company veered off the road to the right, smashed through the railing and plunged over the bridge some 30 meters onto a steep, wooded slope. But the first emergency services were unaware of this: they had been alerted to a "fire on the B100 Drautal Bundesstraße".

Difficult extinguishing and recovery work on steep terrain
The vehicle caught fire. The steep terrain made extinguishing and recovery work difficult. There were also fears that the truck could slide further down to the B100, which was therefore completely closed during the extinguishing and recovery work.

Numerous fire departments were deployed. The recovery proved to be difficult.(Bild: BFKDO-Villach Stadt)

Breathing apparatus teams began to extinguish the flames. Water was pumped up from the Drau. "The driver, who was trapped, could be rescued and was handed over to the rescue service," said Harald Geissler, the commander of the Villach main fire station, to the "Krone" in the morning. The windshield and steering wheel had to be removed in order to rescue the man using a "spineboard", a stretcher that is used for suspected spinal injuries. Resuscitation measures began immediately with the emergency doctor. But then came the sad news: the 55-year-old from Klagenfurt succumbed to his serious injuries.

The picture shows the highway bridge on the left, the crashed truck on the slope and the main road on the right. feuerwehr-villach.at(Bild: feuerwehr-villach.at)

Forest fire also had to be fought
Due to the fire in the truck, an incipient forest fire also had to be extinguished. Geissler: "Hundreds of liters of hydraulic oil were on fire." A solution is still being sought to salvage the truck.

The truck fell about 30 meters from the bridge.(Bild: HFW Villach)

Eight fire departments with 160 personnel and 27 vehicles as well as rescue services, mountain rescue, police and Asfinag are in action. Only one lane of the A10 can be used in the area of the accident. The broken guard rail, which is destroyed over a length of around 60 meters, is replaced immediately.