MAY 6, 2015
GRAZ, AUSTRIA
A head-on collision by two local trains in Austria left one
of the drivers dead and eight people seriously hurt on Wednesday, emergency
services said.
The accident, near the southern city of Graz, occurred after
one of the trains apparently failed to observe a stop signal, said Helmut
Wittmann, chairman of local train operator Steiermärkische Landesbahnen.
"Today we lost one of our colleagues," the Austria
Press Agency (APA) quoted him as saying.
The driver had remained stuck inside his cabin after the
crash and died at the scene after "fighting for his life", the
Red Cross said.
The other driver and a 60-year-old woman suffered
life-threatening injuries and were airlifted to hospital. Six other
people, including two children, were seriously injured.
Regional authorities have opened an investigation into
possible involuntary manslaughter, APA reported.
The accident happened around 10:20am near the train station
of the village of Waldstein, 30 kilometres north of Graz.
District fire chief Gerhard Sampt told the ORF that fire
fighters were greeted with a horrifying scene: "Passengers were lying
around on the train floor, seriously injured, and we then found the trapped
driver who was in a critical condition and unresponsive."
Ten fire brigades were at the scene as well as a Red Cross
team and two rescue helicopters.
"The damage is considerable so we think the trains were
travelling at average speed for this stretch of track. We assume though
that the brakes were applied," a fire brigade spokesman told AFP.
Source: http://www.thelocal.at