Lights demolished

Truck loaded with excavator demolished new tunnel

More than 30 ceiling lights are broken.(Bild: ZOOM Tirol)

Strange accident late Friday morning in the Tyrolean lowlands: a truck loaded with an excavator was too high. So high that it grazed and demolished numerous ceiling lights in a bypass tunnel. Particularly bitter: the underground route is brand new.

Less than a month ago, the underpass on the B178 Loferer Straße in Scheffau am Wilden Kaiser (Kufstein district) was opened to traffic after three years of construction. Governor Anton Mattle (ÖVP) even came to the ceremony.

Now the bypass tunnel will probably have to remain closed for several days. The reason is a curious accident that occurred there on Friday.

34 ceiling lights broken
It happened shortly after 11 am. A truck carrying a small excavator was simply too high for the "tube" - and the driver, a 25-year-old Austrian, did not notice this immediately. Before he could react and stop, the excavator's "arm" had already damaged or torn down 34 ceiling lights over a length of 45 meters.

Too dark: tunnel remains closed
Although clean-up work was started immediately, the tunnel will probably have to remain completely closed for several days for safety reasons due to the damage.