Walked over the tracks

Drunk man hit by train on his way home: dead

Symbolic image

(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

After a party in the district of Spittal (Carinthia), a man wanted to take a shortcut home late on Sunday evening and crossed the railroad tracks to do so. The 35-year-old was hit by the approaching train and suffered fatal injuries. 

It was already late Sunday evening when the 35-year-old was making his way home towards Greifenburg after the party in Steinfeld. "According to witnesses, the heavily intoxicated man chose the shortest route and crossed the railroad tracks in the Steinfeld area at 9.35 p.m.," said the police.

At this precise moment, Railjet 631, which was traveling from Villach in the direction of Lienz, passed by, and the 56-year-old train driver noticed the man on the tracks and immediately initiated emergency braking. He saw that the 35-year-old wanted to swerve out of the way.

Hit by train at 100 km/h
"However, the train struck the person at a speed of around 100 km/h and hurled him towards the sloping southern embankment. The train set only came to a standstill a few hundred meters further on," said a police officer. 

Two police patrols, 15 men from the Greifenburg fire department as well as emergency services from the Red Cross and the RK1 rescue helicopter immediately started a search operation along the tracks for the injured man. Meanwhile, the train driver was questioned about the course of the accident. 

Polytrauma as the cause of death
The 35-year-old was finally found dead by firefighters lying on the southern embankment at around 10.40 pm. "A coroner's inquest carried out the next morning revealed polytrauma as the cause of death," said an official.