Teacher as rescuer

Child jumped from the embankment wall – floated away in the Inn

The dramatic scenes occurred in the Mariahilf area (archive photo).(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

A terrible incident late Wednesday morning in Innsbruck: a child suddenly jumped off the bank of the Inn and was swept away in the water. A teacher was able to pull him ashore again. The twelve-year-old boy was seriously injured and taken to hospital.

Shortly before 11.15 a.m., the alarm went out from the Tyrol control center: "Drowning accident in water", was the initial message.

Teacher pulled child out of the water
Shortly afterwards, it was announced that a dramatic incident had occurred in Innsbruck west of the university bridge. "A child jumped off the bank of the Inn near Mariahilf," police spokesman Christian Viehweider said in response to a question from Krone.

According to the information available so far, the child may have drifted about 100 meters.

Polizeisprecher Christian Viehweider

According to initial information, the impaired boy then drifted about 100 meters. A teacher was then able to pull the twelve-year-old back ashore and administer first aid.

The Inn is currently one and a half to two meters deep in this area. According to the water rescue service, it has a temperature of 8.7 degrees. 

In hospital with serious injuries
The bank wall was about four to five meters high at the scene of the incident. The boy suffered a serious leg injury. After first aid, he was taken to the Innsbruck hospital by ambulance. The teacher was slightly injured.

The water rescue, ambulance, Innsbruck fire department and police were deployed.