Dangerous scenes

“Alcohol trip” ended in the pond for BMW driver

Difficult recovery of the half-submerged BMW.

(Bild: FF Hoheneich)

Under the influence of alcohol, a 25-year-old man drove off the road in Lower Austria and ended up in a pond. He was able to rescue himself from the vehicle and the water and was taken to hospital with injuries. The rescue was difficult for the Florianis.

Dangerous scenes unfolded during the night of September 1st. At around midnight, the Hoheneich fire department was called out to rescue a BMW from the Pürbach pond between Hoheneich and Pürbach in the district of Gmünd. 

Getting more than just "wet feet"
A 25-year-old driver from the district of Gmünd drove off the road with a blood alcohol level of around 0.8, broke through the guard rails with his car and crashed into the pond. The driver was able to free himself from the car, the front of which was almost completely submerged in water. The man was treated on site by the ambulance and taken to the regional hospital.

Difficult recovery
Because the front part of the BMW was almost completely submerged in water, the rescue work was somewhat more extensive. The crane from the Gmünd fire department was called in to assist. A member of the Hoheneich fire department then used his waders to attach the crane's round slings to the vehicle in order to lift the car out of the water.

"The vehicle battery was then disconnected and the car was parked in a safe place. The operation was completed after a good hour and a half," report the Florianis.