After engine failure

Driver left a broken-down truck in the Gleinalm Tunnel

Major fire department operation in the Gleinalm Tunnel(Bild: FF St. Stefan ob Leoben)

A driver simply abandoned his broken-down, smoking truck in the Gleinalm Tunnel (Styria) on Monday morning. The result was a major fire department operation. The investigation into the driver is ongoing.

What a lorry driver did in the Gleinalm Tunnel at around 4.40 a.m. on Monday is very brazen and also extremely dangerous: when his lorry stopped due to engine damage, the driver simply switched to his colleague in the lorry behind. He left his own smoking vehicle behind in the tunnel.

All the surrounding fire departments were immediately alerted to the scene of the fire, but the all-clear was quickly given. Fortunately, the truck had not caught fire.

All the surrounding fire departments were deployed(Bild: FF St. Stefan ob Leoben)

The Gleinalm Tunnel was closed in both directions until 5.20 am. The east tunnel was then reopened to traffic. After the truck was towed away - which proved to be difficult as the blocked heavy vehicle was fully loaded - the west tunnel in the direction of Slovenia was also reopened shortly after 7 am. 

Investigations into the driver of the defective heavy goods vehicle are ongoing. According to initial information, the vehicle has a German license plate, the trailer a Serbian one.