"Krone" on site

After the train accident: “It was like an explosion!”

The S-Bahn was completely destroyed in the crash.(Bild: Klaus Loibnegger)

Hours after the tragic train collision between two trains in Sattendorf on Lake Ossiach, the "Krone" was present during the rescue operations. Local residents describe the dramatic moments after the accident.

"At first I thought something had exploded. The bang was so incredibly loud," describes a resident of Sattendorf, who lives several hundred meters away from the scene of the accident. The events were even more dramatic for a local resident whose house is right next to the tracks: "The walls even shook in our house - we heard the train driver screaming in pain," says the pensioner, who worked for ÖBB for many years.

"Guardian angels at work"
The most important thing: as if by a miracle, the train driver trapped in the driver's cab(as reported by "Krone") escaped with an injury to his ankle. "There were definitely several guardian angels at work," was the general opinion at the scene of the accident. The fact that someone got out of the wrecked locomotive alive is hard to believe at the scene. It is still unclear how the side collision between the S-Bahn train set and the freight train a few meters before and after the station could have happened on Tuesday evening.

The railcar also suffered extensive damage.(Bild: Klaus Loibnegger)

Investigation and salvage of the wreckage
"Investigations into this are still ongoing. At the moment, we are just glad that this accident did not have any more serious consequences. And that the train driver and the others involved are doing well under the circumstances," said Rosanna Zerbatto-Peschel from ÖBB.

On Wednesday, work at the scene of the accident was in full swing in order to restore services as quickly as possible. A crane was used to hoist the badly damaged S-Bahn locomotive back onto the tracks so that the train could be rolled to Villach.