Drama in Upper Austria

Farmer trapped and killed by tractor unit

The man could no longer be rescued.

(Bild: P. Huber (Symbolbild))

Two serious work accidents involving farmers occurred in Upper Austria within less than 24 hours. In Waldhausen im Strudengau, a farmer was trapped and killed by a tractor. His grandson found the lifeless 70-year-old. In the Rohrbach district, a farmer was seriously injured by a baler.

A 70-year-old man from Waldhausen im Strudengau was driving his tractor and attached manure spreader on a steeply sloping field at around 11.30 a.m. on National Day to spread fertilizer. Due to the slope and the slippery surface, the tractor and trailer probably slid sideways, causing the farmer to lose control of the vehicle.

Overturned several times
The trailer then overturned several times until it finally came to a standstill at the end of the hill at the edge of the forest there. As the old farmer had not returned to the farm to load a new load of manure as before, the 14-year-old grandson went to check a little later.

He found his grandfather lifeless in the field between the tractor and the manure spreader. A rescue team tried to resuscitate the 70-year-old. However, the emergency doctor who arrived could only determine that the man had died. The relatives were looked after by a crisis intervention team.

Accident during cleaning work
A 56-year-old man became trapped in a baler during cleaning work in the Mühlviertel region on Friday afternoon. The man had inadvertently activated a lever attached to the side, whereupon one of the two wrapping arms caught him and trapped the farmer between the frame and the device.

After receiving first aid from the emergency doctor, the man was taken to Rohrbach Hospital, the police reported.