Hours-long operation

Major operation after accident with several casualties

The head-on collision occurred after the Köstendorf bridge.

(Bild: FF St. Stefan)

A serious traffic accident occurred early on Saturday morning on the Gailtalstraße in St. Stefan in the Carinthian Gailtal. Two vehicles collided head-on. All three occupants had to be taken to hospital with injuries.

Early Saturday morning: dramatic scenes unfold on the Gailtalstraße between the villages of Köstendorf and Förolach. Shortly after the Köstendorf bridge, two vehicles collide head-on. First responders immediately alert the emergency services, who rush to the scene of the accident with a large contingent.

And what the firefighters from the St. Stefan, Förolach, Görtschach, Hermagor and Köstendorf fire departments and the rescue teams from the Red Cross and the two rescue helicopters see there is like a battlefield. A completely demolished Škoda Fabia is in the middle of the road, a totally damaged VW lies in the ditch. And in the vehicles, three occupants with serious injuries. All of them trapped in the wreckage. "We opened the wrecks with the hydraulic rescue shears and finally freed the injured people," explains St. Stefan's fire department commander Stefan Plesin in an interview with the "Krone".

After the fire departments had completed their work, the seriously injured Carinthians (56, 55) and an East Tyrolean (56) were given initial treatment on the spot by the emergency medical teams. They were then taken to hospital by the rescue helicopters and the ambulance service.

The Gailtalstraße had to be closed to all traffic for around three hours.