Serious accident in Thal

Rescued by firefighters: car driver plunged into pond

Diving teams from the fire department had to recover the car.(Bild: FF Steinberg-Rohrbach / Markus Dirnberger)

A firefighter proved to be a lifesaver on Friday afternoon in Thal, Styria. When the alarm was raised that an 81-year-old man had crashed his car into a pond, he rushed to the scene faster than the rest of the crew. "You don't think, you react," says the lifesaver. Thanks to him, the Styrian survived the accident. It is still unclear why he ended up in the pond.

"I heard the siren, hopped into my tractor and drove off," says Markus Stuhlbacher. It was very lucky that the firefighter from the Steinberg-Rohrbach volunteer fire department was close to the fish pond near Thal into which an 81-year-old man had fallen a few moments earlier. For reasons as yet unexplained, the driver had skidded over an embankment in his car and landed in the pond.

Diving teams from the fire department had to rescue the car.(Bild: FF Steinberg-Rohrbach / Markus Dirnberger)

The car almost completely sank.(Bild: FF Steinberg-Rohrbach / Markus Dirnberger)

"When I arrived, I saw that the car was almost completely submerged," says Stuhlbacher. He jumped into the pond and discovered that the elderly gentleman had just five to ten centimetres of air left to breathe. Stuhlbacher quickly smashed the rear side window of the vehicle with a stone. "Fortunately, I was able to talk to him and he helped," says the brave comrade.

Comrade Markus Stuhlbacher from the Steinberg-Rohrbach volunteer fire department.(Bild: Freiwillige Feuerwehr Steinberg-Rohrbach)

Was he afraid of putting himself in danger? "You're full of adrenaline - you don't think, you react," explains Stuhlbacher, adding: "That's why you're in the fire department". And so he was able to free the 81-year-old and rescue him from the pond. The Red Cross and the Christophorus 12 rescue helicopter had also arrived at the scene of the accident in the meantime.

Lifesaver suffered minor injuries
The paramedics carried out the necessary first aid measures and took the driver of the car to Graz-West Regional Hospital with injuries of indeterminate severity. The lifesaver had also injured his hand and had to be treated and taken to hospital.

The rescue helicopter took the 81-year-old to hospital.(Bild: FF Steinberg-Rohrbach / Markus Dirnberger)

The Steinberg-Rohrbach fire brigade then began to rescue the vehicle together with the divers from the Sappi Gratkorn company fire department. The Steinberg-Rohrbach, St. Oswald-St. Bartholomä and Sappi Gratkorn fire departments were deployed.