Three people injured

E-car on fire after accident with advertising sign

The electric car burned out completely.

(Bild: Bfkdo Amstetten / FF St. Georgen)

Three people, including two children, were injured in a serious accident on the B1 in St. Georgen am Ybbsfelde in the Amstetten district: Following a collision, an electric car left the road and crashed into an advertising sign in a parking lot. The electric car then caught fire.

"It was lucky that there were no people on the road," said firefighters after the exhausting operation on Tuesday evening in a parking lot in St. Georgen am Ybbsfelde. A 38-year-old man had left the main road in his electric car, driven down the embankment, smashed through a wire mesh fence and crashed first into a parked car and then into a billboard. Prior to this, the man, who according to the police was slightly under the influence of alcohol, collided with a car in front of him that was trying to turn off.

Employees of a company and a member of the fire department living in the neighborhood were on the scene as first responders. The driver and the two boys (10, 13) in the car were treated by emergency services and then taken to hospital in Amstetten.

The car crashed into an advertising sign in a parking lot.

(Bild: Bfkdo Amstetten / FF St. Georgen)

Difficult operation
Due to the severe damage, the electrically powered car was soon fully engulfed in flames, which posed a particular challenge. "A scenario like this is extremely rare. The billows of smoke could be seen from far away," said the firefighters, who used breathing apparatus to tackle the flames. However, the fire flared up again and again. The B 1 had to be closed during the operation, but after 30 minutes the fire was declared out. "However, the follow-up work took several hours," it says. A specialist company collected the completely destroyed electric car using a flooding container.