Out of control

Country bus driver left a trail of destruction

The front section of the new electric van was completely demolished.(Bild: Mathis Fotografie)

The bus driver's health problems may have been the reason why a country bus spun completely out of control in Rankweil on Wednesday morning. This caused a lot of damage to a house wall and a bus stop. Fortunately, no passers-by or passengers were injured. 

Spectacular scenes unfolded around Konkoridaplatz in Rankweil at around 7.20 a.m. on Wednesday morning. After the driver of the e-bus lost control of the vehicle - apparently due to a medical emergency - the yellow behemoth left the road and hit a house, tearing away a section of the wall.

The emergency services were left with a scene of devastation.(Bild: Mathis Fotografie)

Fortunately, passers-by and passengers were not injured.(Bild: Mathis Fotografie)

The police and fire department were on the scene immediately.(Bild: Mathis Fotografie)

The area was swept and cleared.(Bild: Mathis Fotografie)

Walls were shored up and the business premises were boarded up.(Bild: Mathis Fotografie)

The bus then bumped along the sidewalk towards the Konkordiaplatz bus stop and rammed into the bus stop. An advertising pillar was also damaged before the heavy vehicle crashed into the boundary wall of a driving school. Finally, the bus skidded across the country road and came to a halt against the wall of a kindergarten. Neither passengers nor passers-by were harmed during the wild ride through Rankweil. Apart from the bus driver, nobody was injured.

The road had to be closed for the clean-up work. The Rankweil fire department shored up a damaged wall and nailed the badly damaged business premises back together with shuttering boards. Employees from the Rankweil building yard and the local authority supported the fire department with the work.