Difficult rescue

Worker trapped in wheel loader at scrap yard

(Bild: Matthias Lauber/laumat.at)

A Czech worker was badly trapped by a wheel loader in an accident at a scrap yard in Edt near Lambach. It took almost an hour before the 26-year-old injured man could finally be freed by the fire department. The man was then finally taken to hospital.

A 26-year-old Czech from Bad Wimsbach-Neydharting was repairing the hydraulic hose of a wheel loader at a scrap yard in Edt bei Lambach at around 12.15 p.m. on Friday.

To do this, the man lifted the bucket of the wheel loader to about 1.6 meters to loosen the bolts of the hose on the lifting cylinder. A work colleague (31), who was next to the wheel loader at the same time, pointed out to the 26-year-old that he must not loosen the bolts because otherwise the hydraulic pressure would be released and the bucket would fall down.

Arm trapped
Despite this warning, the Czech loosened the bolts and the bucket fell downwards - as predicted. The 26-year-old's right forearm was trapped between the lifting cylinder and the frame of the wheel loader. The rescue was difficult and it took around an hour before the man could finally be released.

After the Edt-Winkling and Lambach fire departments had freed him from his predicament, the seriously injured man was taken to the hospital in Wels with the emergency doctor.