Shocked first aider

After Halloween crash: “They just sped past”

This is where the terrible accident happened.(Bild: Sobe Hermann)

The shock of the tragic accidental death of an 18-year-old girl on Halloween is profound. A first aider describes the dramatic minutes after the horror crash to the "Krone". What she experienced leaves her stunned.

It is not the first time that a Carinthian woman has lost her life at the Bad Saag underpass. There was already a fatal road accident there in 2020. A 49-year-old Carinthian woman, who is still in shock, knows just how dangerous this place is: "I happened to be the first one there. I was actually going to pick someone up - and then I saw the wrecked car," she says in an interview with the "Krone" newspaper.

In the car: four young women, all between 18 and 26 years old, on their way home from a Halloween party. As reported, the car left the road on a left-hand bend and crashed head-on into the concrete wall. For an 18-year-old, all help came too late - she died at the scene of the accident. Her three friends suffered serious injuries. "I immediately gave the driver a blanket. She asked if everyone was okay - but there was no answer from behind," recalls the first aider: "At first, I didn't even understand that there were still several people in the car."

"No one stopped"
Until the emergency services arrived, she tried to calm the driver down: "She seemed completely sober and was clearly conscious. I just feel sorry for the girls." But another feeling also remains: anger and incomprehension about the drivers following behind: "I was most shocked by the drivers following behind! Nobody stopped, they just sped past. Even though they saw that an accident had happened! Where's the moral courage in that?" she says, stunned.

I just feel sorry for the girls. You immediately think of your own children ...

Ersthelferin (49) über den tödlichen Unfall

Only she and two other people stopped and helped: "Thank God the rescue team arrived extremely quickly, they were really helpful and understanding," she says, praising the rapid assistance of the emergency services, who tried to resuscitate the 18-year-old at the scene of the accident. Without success.

Not the first fatal accident
The underpass near Bad Saag has been considered dangerous for years. "Someone died there five years ago," she says. "It's even worse in summer because pedestrians want to get to the lakeshore and cross the road." The speed limit in this area is also set too high. "At times like this, you immediately think of your own children - what happened to the four girls is really tragic."

How exactly the accident happened is still under investigation. The public prosecutor's office had the wreckage recovered in order to possibly find answers.