"Difficult to recover"

Car with three occupants plunged into Lake Mondsee

The fire department lifted the Land Rover out of the lake.

(Bild: FF Au-See)

On Friday night, an off-road vehicle plunged into Lake Mondsee in St. Gilgen. The three young occupants were extremely lucky: they were able to get out of the car because the vehicle was stranded on the so-called Kreuzstein about 20 meters from the shore. The rescue proved to be difficult.

The car was sitting on a stone around 20 meters from the shore - head of operations Alexander Hausjell from the St. Gilgen fire department speaks of the "very, very good luck" that three teenage occupants of an off-road vehicle had on Saturday night.

St. Gilgen also borders Mondsee
The new Land Rover left the road shortly before midnight - possibly due to excessive speed on a right-hand bend - and crashed into Lake Mondsee in the municipality of St. Gilgen (Salzburg). St. Gilgen is largely located on Lake Wolfgangsee. However, because the municipal boundary is abrupt, it also borders Lake Mondsee in Upper Austria to the north.

"Kreuzstein" rescued teenager
The expensive British car - list price from 80,000 euros, but in this case probably well over 100,000 euros - came to rest on the cross stone decorated with crosses around 20 meters from the shore, which is why the occupants were able to get out of the car.

Expensive off-road vehicle borrowed from mother
The 18-year-old driver from the Vöcklabruck district probably borrowed the car from his mother. He and his passenger (19) from northern Flachgau remained uninjured, a 17-year-old from Flachgau in the back seat complained of back pain. All three were taken to Vöcklabruck Hospital for clarification, a breathalyzer test on the driver was negative.

The new Land Rover was badly damaged in the accident

(Bild: FF Au-See)

The recovery of the heavy vehicle proved to be difficult

(Bild: FF Au-See)

The off-road vehicle can easily cross water up to 90 centimeters deep. But not in a badly damaged condition.

(Bild: FF Au-See)

Fire department in action for five hours
The towing company was unable to lift the Land Rover Defender - too heavy! So head of operations Hausjell and his team requested a mobile crane from the Vöcklabruck fire department. "That's how we got the car out. After a good five hours, we were able to end the operation," reports the fire department commander.

The constant danger of oil leaking from the off-road vehicle into the Mondsee made the rescue doubly complicated. However, the fire department was able to prevent the lake from being contaminated.