"Was lucky several times"

Pedestrian almost hit by concrete pole

The concrete pylon hit the ground just next to the pensioner, who was disposing of used glass in containers.(Bild: FF Roitham am Traunfall)

A few meters may have been the difference between life and death: a passer-by was standing in the middle of the road in Roitham (Upper Austria) on Monday when a concrete pylon hit the ground to her immediate right and high-voltage power lines thundered down to her left. The woman survived the accident unharmed.

What exactly had happened? "A garbage truck wanted to reverse onto the road and apparently overlooked the pylon of a high-voltage power line," says Philip Kathrein, head of operations at the Roitham fire department. At the time, the pensioner was standing in front of glass recycling containers to which she had driven her car. The concrete pylon toppled over and with it parts of the high-voltage line.

High-voltage lines came crashing down on the other side. Philip Kathrein led the fire department operation.(Bild: FF Roitham am Traunfall, Krone KREATIV)

"The woman was lucky several times"
"The woman was lucky several times that she was not hit by the pylon, not by the lines - and that the power was immediately cut off by a short circuit," says Kathrein. "She took it all very calmly. Maybe she didn't realize how lucky she was at first."

Power failure and railroad closure
The accident, in which all the guardian angels really were at work, also caused short-term power cuts in parts of Roitham and a closure of the adjacent railroad line for freight trains for around two hours.

After the incident, incident commander Kathrein appealed: "When accidents like this happen, please keep your distance. The other passers-by somewhat underestimated the danger that can emanate from the high-voltage line when the conductor cables are lying on the ground."