In Styria, a firefighter died in an accident near the municipality of Ratten (Weiz district) on Friday. According to the state police headquarters, four firefighters from FF Ratten were on their way back from a technical operation on a municipal road in the field of grubbing at around 3 p.m. when a car came towards them. During an evasive maneuver, the heavy vehicle fell over a slope into a stream bed.
The driver of the fire engine avoided the oncoming car – driven by a 26-year-old – only to the right on the shoulder. But this gave way and as a result the fire truck crashed. In the accident, the 24-year-old driver, a 40-year-old and a 19-year-old firefighter were seriously injured and were taken to a nearby hospital by helicopter. A 30-year-old firefighter was fatally injured in the accident. Several crisis intervention teams were deployed. The laborious recovery of the heavy vehicle could take several days, it said in a broadcast.
Governor Hermann Schützenhöfer (ÖVP), Vice Governor Anton Lang (SPÖ) and State Fire Commander Reinhard Leichtfried expressed their concern in a statement. “I deeply regret this death, my condolences go out to his family and relatives in these difficult hours,” Schützenhofer was quoted as saying.
Accessed on September 10, 2021 at 9:38 am on https://www.sn.at/panorama/oesterreich/ein-toter-nach-absturz-von-loeschfahrzeug-in-der-steiermark-109304608