One dead and 32 hurt in a bus accident in northwestern Austria

One person died and another 32 were hurt in a bus accident in northwestern Austria. 

The group was on their way back from a stag party – which was a day of sledging in the snow – and the 31 year old man who died in the accident was the groom.

The vehicle was travelling from Lower Bavaria in Germany in the direction of Schladming, about 100 kilometres southeast of Salzburg.

The vehicle rolled over several times and came to rest at the foot of the embankment on the flat roof of a company building, according to witnesses. 

A 31-year-old man died at the scene of the accident. Two people, including the 51-year-old bus driver, were seriously injured.

Directly behind the bus, another vehicle was carrying firefighters who immediately stepped in as first responders. 

In addition, the Red Cross and fire brigade bases were not far away, so that within ten minutes more than 160 rescue workers were on the scene. 

“For us, the problem was that the bus fell onto a garage roof,” said Norbert Pichler, Operations Manager with the Red Cross Schladming. “In coordination with the fire brigade, we tried to rescue the trapped persons. The others who were down outside were brought to a warm place in a garage where we could supply transport depending on priority.”

Further investigations into the exact cause of the accident are still ongoing. The bus driver could not yet be questioned due to his severe injuries.