Upper Austrian woman (19) died in accident with Flixbus: charges against driver

It was still pitch black when a Flixbus drove through the municipality of Micheldorf in Carinthia in the early morning of September 19, 2023. The bus with its characteristic light green paintwork had already covered more than 800 kilometers. From Berlin we went through the entire German Federal Republic, including stops. The bus also stopped in Linz. 19-year-old Jana from Weibern got on there and wanted to visit her parents in Trieste, Italy, the final stop of the connection.

• From the archive: Upper Austrian woman (19) killed in serious accident with Flixbus

An accident finally occurs in a left-hand bend in the Carinthian municipality. One of the two drivers, a 27-year-old Ukrainian, lost control of his vehicle for reasons that were unclear at the time. The bus veers off the road and tips over the guardrail.

Several fire brigades from the area had to arrive with hydraulic cutters; the majority of the occupants were still trapped in the wreckage and had to be freed by the emergency services.

Five of the 45 passengers suffered serious injuries, including Jana. She is also the only one who does not survive the accident. She dies at the scene of the accident.

• Also read: Mourning in the Hausruckviertel: “We will miss Jana very much, and not just as a musician”

Cause speculation

Because, according to eyewitnesses, no other vehicle was involved in the accident, suspicion quickly turns to the two bus drivers.

An alcohol test was negative for both men, and speculation about the cause of the accident persists. There is even talk of a “flying driver change”. The driver of the accident himself told the police that he had reached for a water bottle. He twisted the steering wheel.

• Report from the archive: Fatal accident with Flixbus: driver is said to have bent down to grab a bottle

Grossly negligent homicide

An expert was commissioned in the days following the accident. Almost five months later, he apparently came to such a clear verdict that the Klagenfurt public prosecutor’s office brought charges against the driver for grossly negligent homicide.

According to Tina Frimmel-Hesse from the Klagenfurt public prosecutor’s office, after evaluating the evidence, they came to the conclusion that the man fell asleep behind the wheel. “It was microsleep due to overtiredness,” Frimmel-Hesse told OÖNachrichten.

If convicted, the Ukrainian faces up to three years in prison. A trial date has not yet been set.

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