Driver seriously injured

Tractor over a slope: barn saves the day

The tractor raced across the steep, snow-covered meadow into the shed, which slowed it down.(Bild: zoom.tirol, Krone KREATIV)

A terrible accident on Thursday morning in the Tyrolean lowlands: On Großvolderberg (Innsbruck-Land district), a local man drove his tractor off the road and plunged around 150 meters over steep terrain. A barn prevented a further fall. The driver suffered serious injuries.

The 76-year-old farmer was driving his tractor uphill on the Großvolderbergstraße shortly before 10 a.m. on Thursday. In the Außeregg area, the local man left the road for an as yet unexplained reason. The tractor ended up on the steeply sloping, still slightly snow-covered meadow and was apparently barely controllable by the driver.

However, the driver managed to keep the tractor on its wheels, but the vehicle threatened to crash into trees or the valley floor.

The vehicle crashed through the sliding door, which probably slowed it down a little, and came to a standstill inside the barn.

Andreas Schmid, Kommandant der Feuerwehr Großvolderberg

Crashed into the shed after 150 meters
Whether it was due to deliberate action by the driver or pure coincidence, the tractor drove around 150 meters across the meadow directly towards a shed. "The vehicle crashed through the sliding door, which probably slowed it down a little, and came to a standstill inside the barn," explains Andreas Schmid, commander of the Großvolderberg fire department. Equipment stored in the shed then finally caught the tractor.

The rear wall of the barn was also damaged.(Bild: zoom.tirol, Krone KREATIV)

"We prepared the landing site for the emergency helicopter and helped to rescue the injured man," says Andreas Schmid. The farmer was flown to the hospital in Innsbruck.

Around 30 firefighters from Großvolderberg, Volders and Wattens, the ambulance service, police and helicopter were deployed. The fire department was busy clearing up for several hours.