Occupants trapped

Truck loses control on the A2 and plunges into the depths

The truck plunged several meters into the ground.(Bild: FF Arnoldstein)

Tragic accident on the A2 Südautobahn near the Italian border: a truck left the road for an unknown reason and plunged several meters into the depths. All help came too late for one of the occupants.

At around 2.38 a.m., the sirens suddenly sounded between Thörl-Maglern and Villach - there had been a serious accident on the Südautobahn. "A truck left the road for an unknown reason and crashed several meters onto the goods road below," reports the Arnoldstein volunteer fire department. 

Two Greek truck drivers (44 and 43 years old) were traveling in the direction of Italy. "At the bridge over the Gailitz, in the area of Stossau, municipality of Arnoldstein, district of Villach Land, the vehicle hit the right edge of the road for unknown reasons, broke through the guardrail and plunged over the edge of the bridge about 16 meters into the depth," the police describe the course of the accident.

The truck then came to a standstill under the bridge and the cab on the passenger side was badly damaged. The two occupants were trapped in the accident - the firefighters who were called out freed the driver using hydraulic rescue equipment. The Red Cross paramedics provided first aid to the 44-year-old and took him to Villach Regional Hospital. "However, the emergency doctor was only able to determine that the co-driver had died," the police report on the tragic outcome.

In addition to the police and ambulance service, firefighters from Arnoldstein, Gödersdorf, Thörl-Maglern and the main fire station in Villach were also involved in the accident. The driver has not yet been interviewed, so further investigations into the course of the accident are still necessary, according to the police.