Ran over the tracks

13-year-old hit and injured by streetcar

Emergency services were quickly on the scene.(Bild: Matthias Lauber/laumat.at)

Big commotion Wednesday afternoon in Leonding. A 13-year-old boy was hit by a streetcar, thrown to the ground and had to be taken to hospital with injuries. The boy must have crossed the tracks in order to catch his streetcar.

At around 1.45 p.m. on Wednesday, a 34-year-old man from Linz was driving streetcar line 4 on an educational journey from Linz in the direction of Traun. Next to him was his 28-year-old apprentice driver, also from Linz. According to the current state of the investigation, a 13-year-old boy from the Linz-Land district crossed the B139 running parallel to the tracks as well as the tracks heading out of town, presumably to reach a streetcar that was already at the stop.

Rescue helicopter on the scene
Despite the 34-year-old's immediate emergency braking, he was unable to prevent a collision with the boy. The 13-year-old was thrown to the ground by the collision and suffered undetermined injuries. The Leonding Red Cross and the C 10 rescue helicopter, which had already arrived, provided first aid to the injured man.

He was then taken to hospital in Linz by Leonding ambulance. At around 2.20 p.m., the accident investigation in the area of the tracks was completed and the streetcar was able to resume operations.