Suddenly rolled off

Major incident: school bus with three children involved in an accident

The school bus crashed into a tree.(Bild: BFVDL)

Dramatic scenes Wednesday afternoon in Deutschlandsberg (Styria): A school bus suddenly started rolling on a farm and crashed into a tree. Three children were on the bus. The driver, who just managed to jump into the vehicle, was injured.

The accident occurred on a farm in Wildbach, a district of the municipality of Deutschlandsberg. According to information from the Red Cross, three children were sitting in the school bus at around 12 noon on Tuesday when it started to roll and crashed into a tree.

"The bus driver was helping children to get off when he suddenly realized that the bus was rolling," says Hans Jürgen Ferlitsch from the Deutschlandsberg area fire brigade association, describing the incident. "At the last moment, he jumped into the bus and tried to stop it with the handbrake." 

The bus rolled down this slope.(Bild: BFVDL)

Children unharmed
The bus rolled down a slope for around 30 or 35 meters until it got stuck in a tree. "Luckily, that was really at the last moment," says Ferlitsch. Because at that point, the road goes downhill for several meters. 

The three children - aged 9, 9 and 6 - were uninjured. The driver, a 52-year-old Croatian who lives in the Deutschlandsberg district, was naturally unable to fasten his seatbelt and was taken to Deutschlandsberg Regional Hospital with minor injuries. 

The vehicle was badly damaged.(Bild: BFVDL)

Large contingent of emergency services
Due to the unclear situation - the emergency call reported a rollover and smoke - two ambulances, an emergency doctor, a command vehicle and even two rescue helicopters were ordered to Wildbach. The Bad Gams, Deutschlandsberg, Frauental, Stainz and Wildbach fire departments were on the scene with 65 firefighters and 14 vehicles. The damaged minibus was recovered by the firefighters and parked on the farm. It was a total loss.