Smuggling suspected

Euro bills fluttered out of truck after mass crash

The load of one of the crashed trucks (NOT the one in the middle) was explosive.(Bild: FF Vösendorf)

The police and fire department in the S-1 tunnel near Vösendorf in the district of Mödling were astonished: the load of a truck involved in an accident broke - and suddenly banknotes were fluttering around. The emergency services also came across drugs ...

As reported, dozens of firefighters raced into the tube on the S 1 last Friday to provide assistance to their comrades. At the scene, the fire crews from Brunn, Perchtoldsdorf, Wiener Neudorf and the Vienna professional fire department quickly realized the dimensions of the challenging accident - because a total of four articulated lorries had crashed into each other in an accident. The "large vehicle fire" operation and - according to ASFINAG - the subsequent six-hour closure in the direction of Schwechat came about because the initial smoke development was threatening a major catastrophe.

Packaged load broke
However, the burgeoning fire was quickly nipped in the bud by the targeted and highly professional intervention. An initially trapped driver was able to free himself from the dented driver's cab sheet metal. A touching comradely detail in passing: to ensure local fire protection and possible parallel operations, the Perchtoldsdorf fire department took over manning of the Vösendorf fire station during the ongoing rescue operation.

Drugs and boxes of euro notes 
While the heavy crane vehicle from the Mödling fire department and the recovery vehicle from Vienna were still driving up, a helper made a discovery that was as curious as it was alarming. Due to the gigantic force of the impact of the heavy trucks, the trailer had shifted into a cabin - the load packed in boxes broke and revealed loose, fluttering, previously stacked euro bills (mostly fifties). As the "Krone" learned, drugs were also apparently hidden in the "luggage compartment" of one of the trucks.

The more than astonished firefighters immediately drew the attention of the police officers, who were also present, to the explosive cargo - possibly a large-scale smuggling operation. This was followed by meticulous criminal investigations into the possible (international) origin and possible involvement of the driver concerned. These are still ongoing and are likely to expand.