Chemical accident on the train: waiting for experts
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At Schwarzach (Pongau), emergency services are still waiting for experts from abroad who can seal the leak on the broken tank wagon. The aggressive chemical methyl acrylate escaped from this on Thursday night and at noon. Pinzgauer Straße is free again after a long period of closure.
The tank wagon leaked for the first time late Wednesday evening at the Bischofshofen (Pongau) station. Passengers on a passenger train noticed the pungent smell and alerted the emergency services. The freight train with the broken wagon was then stopped at St. Johann station. The fire brigade then evacuated a few houses and businesses in the immediate vicinity – including the well-attended “Dieselkino”.
Odyssey through several train stations
A locomotive was then used to take the wagon a few kilometers further onto a normally closed track between Schwarzach and Lend, where no one lives nearby. Methyl acrylate escapes there again on Thursday afternoon. Now the writing continues at full speed. More than a hundred firefighters are on duty, along with Red Cross and police forces.
Railway only free on one track
The Pongauer district fire brigade commander Robert Lottermoser says that the work would take longer: “The Pinzgauer Straße is open to traffic again, including the ÖBB with a track. We open the traffic routes in phases because we have to check the situation again and again in between.”
According to Lottermoser, several methods have already been tried to get the chemical under control: “So far, this has not proven to be effective. We are now waiting for this owner’s wagons, who will also bring their own experts. Then we will decide and further measures. The end is still open.”
A cap on the tank may be defective. So far, the fire brigade has only been able to temporarily repair the damage and cool the wagon.
Several injured in the hospital
In the passenger train that passed the freight train in Bischofshofen in the evening, one person collapsed because of the acrid smell. They had to be taken to the Schwarzach hospital along with five other people.