Drama in Niklasdorf

Run over by train after carnival party – two dead

The incoming train hit the two Styrians. (symbolic image)(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

A carnival party in Niklasdorf in Upper Styria came to a terrible end: as has only now become known, a woman and a man were hit and killed by a train while crossing the tracks last Saturday (March 1).

The 59-year-old Styrian woman and her 49-year-old companion were attending a carnival party in Niklasdorf (Leoben district) on Saturday. Shortly after 10 p.m., they wanted to cross the train tracks near the station in the direction of the main road, apparently to save themselves a longer walk. After several accidents in the past, ÖBB reacted and secured the tracks around the station with a wall. 

"Tragic accident"
Unfortunately, the man and the woman found a gap, which ultimately proved to be their undoing. At 10.19 p.m., they were hit by an incoming train. Both died at the scene of the accident. There was much speculation on social media after the accident. Police spokesman Heimo Kohlbacher has now clarified: "Unfortunately, the incident was a tragic accident."

The police had also initially considered suicide. However, after an autopsy ordered by the Leoben public prosecutor's office, witness interviews and a reconstruction of the route taken by the two victims, it became clear that it really was an accident.