Man (52) injured

Explosion on campsite: caravan in flames

The flames blazed several meters high from the caravans.(Bild: FF Tulln-Stadt)

Flaming inferno on a campsite in Tulln (Lower Austria): After a gas cylinder presumably exploded for as yet unexplained reasons, several caravans were ablaze. A Viennese man (52) suffered serious injuries

A bang shattered the weekend peace over the campsite in Tulln on Sunday afternoon. Presumably a gas cylinder had exploded and the detonation set a caravan on fire. The fire quickly spread to neighboring caravans. When the emergency services arrived, three vehicles were already engulfed in flames.

Victim flown to AKH
A 52-year-old man from Vienna, who had been in the area of the caravans, was found seriously injured and received initial treatment; he was flown to Vienna General Hospital by rescue helicopter. Parallel to the extinguishing work, firefighters wearing heavy breathing protection searched the adjacent mobile homes for other people - fortunately, no one was still in the danger zone.

Smoking debris remained from the caravans.(Bild: Freiwillige Feuerwehr Tulln-Stadt)

Firefighters had to watch out for gas cylinders when extinguishing the fire.(Bild: Freiwillige Feuerwehr Tulln-Stadt)

Explosion hazard during extinguishing
There was still a risk of explosion during the operation. This was because several gas cylinders were stored in the caravans, only some of which were empty. However, they could all be removed from the burning areas and cooled without incident. The firefighters had to cut open the roof of one mobile home in order to extinguish all the embers.