Black ice – suddenly freezing rain – caused a number of traffic accidents on the streets of Salzburg on Friday night. In Pinzgau a driver from the Netherlands slid against a coach, in Pongau the Tauern Autobahn (A10) between the Tauern tunnel and the Reittunnel had to be closed in both directions from midnight to 2.15 a.m. The highway could only be cleared of ice through the massive use of road salt.

Around midnight in the municipality of Saalfelden (Pinzgau), a 47-year-old Dutchman lost control of his car on the slippery road surface. He slid across the oncoming lane and collided with an oncoming coach. As a result of the collision, the Dutchman’s car was thrown into the ditch and the coach came to a standstill in its lane. None of the 27 occupants in the bus were injured.

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However, the Dutchman’s son was taken to the Zell am See hospital for further examinations. At the same time, a subsequent truck had to stop on the road because of the accident. A car driver from Pinzgau collided with the heavy vehicle. She was also transported to the hospital in Zell am See.

The police also reported two injured people in a traffic accident due to the sudden freezing of the road in Pongau. In ten other traffic accidents, there was only property damage. On the Pinzgauer Straße (B311) a semi-trailer truck skidded, hit the guardrail and then came to a standstill across the road. In the course of the rescue, towing, cleaning and spreading work, the federal road was closed to all traffic from 11:45 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.