Image: TEAM FOTOKERSCHI.AT / KERSCHBAUMMAYR
Image: Joseph Moser
Image: private
In the Steyr Christkindl district, a large-scale operation by the blue light organizations is currently underway after a massive rock fall. Two workers died during slope stabilization work along the Christkindlweg, a popular cycle and pedestrian path. Several witnesses report a big bang when the rock face suddenly slid down towards Rosenegger Straße. The two men, the excavator driver and a worker, were torn down and buried. For the two Carinthians – probably including the company’s junior boss – any help came too late. Urgently needed security work has been carried out at the site for two weeks. Steyr Mayor Markus Vogl is already on the spot. According to the city of Steyr, there should also be two injuries.
The scene of the accident is not far from the well-known Christkindlwirt.
“We were looking for a company that dared to do this”
The affected construction site is part of the torrent and avalanche control system in Upper Austria. Because around a year ago a 40 cubic meter part had detached itself from the rock formation, there was already an official ban on entering houses in the “fall track”. “Since then, we have tried in vain to find a company that dares to take on this construction site and defuse the danger,” says Wolfgang Gasperl, head of the Upper Austria section for torrent and avalanche control. Finally, a private company was found and commissioned, the accident happened during the security work. “I’m on my way from Hallstatt to Steyr to get a picture of it myself,” says Gasperl in the OÖN interview.
Image: Joseph Moser
Bagger stood below a slightly overhanging rock
Christkindl landlord Georg Baumgartner’s wife, Regina Baumgartner, was on the first floor of the house about 200 meters away when she heard the “Rumbler”. The crash site can be seen from the innkeeper’s panoramic restaurant. Georg Baumgartner reports that the excavator was below a slightly overhanging rock when the accident happened.
Geologist Gudrun Oberegger from the Steyr Magistrate’s bridge and hydraulic engineering department has already got an idea of the situation – she was flown over the crash site in a police helicopter. The conglomerate rock that came off should have been around 400 cubic meters in size – it should have been removed in a targeted manner. A project that unfortunately ended tragically.
Image: private
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