19 injured in an accident with a coach on the A1 in Salzburg
The Red Cross was alerted a few minutes after 3 a.m., district rescue commander Hermann Gerstgraser told APA. The bus had an accident on the west autobahn between the Salzburg-Nord and Wallersee junctions (community of Eugendorf). In this section there is currently a construction site with oncoming traffic, whereby the two lanes towards Vienna are separated from the lane towards Salzburg by a concrete guard rail. For reasons that have not yet been clarified, the vehicle crashed into the guardrail. “According to witness statements, no other vehicle was involved,” police spokesman Hans Wolfgruber informed APA.
Because of the narrow road conditions due to the construction site, access for the rescue workers was difficult: “The rescue workers who came from the direction of Eugendorf were able to get to the accident site – but those who came from Hallwang or from the city got stuck in the traffic jam. That’s why we were pretty much alone at the beginning. Nevertheless, we carried out the first aid as far as this was possible. The Red Cross forces had to leave their cars in traffic and were then on site with a foot party. Only then did the situation slowly clear up,” said operations manager Christian Putz from the Eugendorf volunteer fire brigade.
The contingent of helpers was large: the Hallwang and Eugendorf fire brigades came with around 60 volunteers in eight vehicles, the Red Cross arrived with around 50 helpers in 14 vehicles. According to Gerstgraser, paramedics from Flachgau, from the city of Salzburg, from the Upper Austria stock and a vehicle from Freilassing (Bavaria) and three emergency doctors were on duty.
According to Gerstgraser, three of the 28 passengers in the bus, who according to the police may all come from Kosovo, were seriously injured and 16 slightly injured. All were taken to the accident hospital and the state hospital in Salzburg in ambulances. “The nine people who remained unharmed were cared for by the crisis intervention team at our headquarters in the city,” said Gerstgraser. Only one child hugged himself on the bus, but survived the crash unharmed.
The clean-up work lasted well into the morning. The result was a traffic jam that at times extended as far as the city of Salzburg. At least one lane was reopened in the morning.
In the morning, the Red Cross organized a replacement bus for the accident victims who could be transported, which was supposed to bring them to their destination. According to Red Cross spokeswoman Roberta Thanner, Stuttgart, Dortmund, Essen, Cologne, Mannheim and Hanover should be approached.