Tree snapped:

32-year-old seriously injured during woodwork

The seriously injured man was flown to Klagenfurt Hospital by the Alpin 1 rescue helicopter (symbolic image).(Bild: Pressefoto Scharinger/Daniel Scharinger)

A tragic work accident occurred on Tuesday morning in the municipality of Himmelberg (Carinthia). A 32-year-old man from the district of Spittal/Drau was working alone on logging work at 11.10 am when the accident happened.

The woodworker was operating a cable winch to pull down three spruce trees about ten meters long from an embankment. He used a remote control, which he held about eight meters away at the edge of the farm track, to steer the tractor that had attached the trees to the cable winch.

Man was thrown to the ground
Suddenly the unpredictable happened: a tree unexpectedly snapped and hit the 32-year-old in the middle of his body. The impact was so violent that he was thrown to the ground and the tree remained on top of him.

The injured man managed to call his work colleague. He arrived at the scene of the accident a short time later and immediately set the rescue chain in motion. He cut the tree down and was able to free his colleague.

Flown to hospital by rescue helicopter
But the situation was critical. The 32-year-old had suffered serious injuries and needed urgent medical assistance. The Alpin 1 rescue helicopter was alerted and carried out a rope rescue to bring the injured man to safety as quickly as possible. He was flown to Klagenfurt Hospital, where he is now being treated.