Rescuer on the train accident:

“The little girl had several guardian angels!”

They rescued the two-year-old child from the danger zone of the crashed train: Christoph Dumfart and Kerstin Gottl.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/FF Allensteig, zVg.)

Austrian Armed Forces officers Christoph Dumfart and Kerstin Gottl were the first responders at the train accident in Allentsteig (Lower Austria). They describe the highly dramatic scenes to the “Krone” and how they brought the young accident victim to safety: The three rescuers had to join forces to pry open the car door.

The locomotive sounded its loud horn. Then again. Then a continuous tone—until a deafening, screeching bang and the sound of scraping on the ballast silenced it. This is how Austrian Armed Forces officers Christoph Dumfart (48) and Kerstin Gottl (40) describe the terrifying seconds of the train tragedy in Allentsteig, which claimed the lives of a couple just before 4 p.m. on Saturday and left a two-year-old girl an orphan.

“Something terrible must have happened”
Only about 500 meters as the crow flies separated the couple from the scene of the accident. “It was immediately clear to us that something terrible must have happened,” says the Allentsteig-based motor transport and technical officer. The two immediately got into their car and drove off. Dumfart and Gottl have extensive rescue training and serve as psychosocial first responders with the rescue dog brigade. Gottl, who lives in Fürstenfeld in Styria, is also a dog handler.

They rescued the two-year-old child from the danger zone of the crashed train: Christoph Dumfart and Kerstin Gottl.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/FF Allensteig, zVg.)

Screams of a two-year-old
Horrifying scenes greeted the first responders upon arrival; they immediately called 911. The car and the train were severely wedged together. “As we ran over, the train engineer came toward us. He was in shock and said that the railway line had already been closed.” Immediately afterward, screams were heard coming from the severely mangled car: Behind the mother in the driver’s seat, her daughter was crying in the child seat.

Toddler largely unharmed
Working together, the couple and the train engineer then forced open the right rear door. Gottl took the child into her arms. “You could sense how she was seeking closeness and security. It immediately clung to Kerstin, who took her straight out of the danger zone,” Dumfart describes. Although the locomotive’s buffer must have struck the car very close by, the two-year-old was largely unharmed except for a bleeding head wound.

“The little girl had several guardian angels there. And one of them threw himself in front of her to protect her, so that the back seat was pushed back to the right,” the career soldier explains the scene of the accident. For the parents, any help came too late. He remained on site to provide psychological support for the train driver. He also helped guide the emergency responders through the difficult terrain.

Generous offers of help from many sides
Aren’t the couple themselves traumatized by the horrific accident? “We talked about it for a long time that day and still talk about it from time to time. Our employers and the emergency responders also offered us great support. So far, though, we’ve politely declined,” says Dumfart.