Salzburg: Discharge of hazardous substances at St. Johann train station
There was a large-scale police operation at the St. Johann im Pongau train station on Saturday because of a hazardous substance leak.
According to the Salzburg police, gas leaked from a freight car, the station was closed over a large area, access routes for pedestrians and vehicles were blocked and the station area was evacuated. The hazardous substance was the highly flammable hazardous substance methyl acrylate UN 1919.
The residents of the surrounding buildings were asked not to leave the living quarters. A rail replacement service was set up by ÖBB from 8:09 p.m.
Defective seal
According to hazardous substances experts from the St. Johann, Schwarzach and Bischofshofen fire departments, the vapors had escaped from the lid in the roof area of the wagon due to a defective seal. A total of six wagons were checked for leaks by the fire brigade using special protective equipment, and the leak was provisionally sealed. The entire train of wagons was then brought to an uninhabited area in St. Veit/Schwarzachmaut at around 4 a.m. on Sunday.
There, a managing director of the company concerned initiated further sealing measures. The chain of wagons is to be transferred to Germany by rail on Monday.
No people injured
No one was injured by the gas leak. The large-scale operation was completed on October 23, 2022 at 00:57 a.m., the roadblocks lifted and the train station reopened to rail traffic. Around 100 emergency services from the fire brigade, the police and rescue services as well as a chemist from the Salzburg state government and the operations manager from ÖBB were involved in the operation.