Injured man rescued

79-year-old parked in the river instead of at the hospital

Dramatic scenes in Scheibbs, Lower Austria: a driver lost control of his vehicle and drove into the Erlauf! An attentive passer-by reacted immediately and rescued the pensioner. Injured, he was taken to the hospital opposite. The fire department then had to tackle another difficult task while working for the environment.

The 79-year-old was actually trying to park in the parking lot opposite the Scheibbs regional hospital. However, for unknown reasons, the car then drove over the edge of the parking lot and ended up in the Erlauf. The vehicle began to float in the river.

Heroic rescue
An attentive passer-by noticed the accident and reacted immediately. He climbed down the embankment and rescued the driver from the Seat, which was almost up to his knees in water. Thanks to the hero's quick action, the driver was brought safely to shore. The pensioner was then taken to the hospital opposite with injuries of indeterminate severity.

Elaborate operation
A large contingent of rescue workers was alerted. The operation turned out to be difficult and time-consuming. First of all, the fire department had to clear the parking lot in order to be able to start the rescue work. Some parked cars were moved away with maneuvering carts to make room for the swap body vehicle.

Damp and sloping
Then a path had to be cut across the embankment to the Erlauf river using a chainsaw in order to be able to position the recovery vehicle. Two members of the fire department then jumped into the cool river, secured with lifelines, to attach the ropes. The SUV was then recovered from the Erlauf using the interchangeable loading crane.