Just a week ago, Tomas K. started his service at the Kirchschlag ski lift near Linz. “Tomas was very motivated and full of energy when he came to work for us,” says lift operator Andreas Pilsl.
The young man from the Czech Republic celebrated his 28th birthday just a few days ago. He died yesterday in a terrible accident at work in the small ski resort. Tomas K. was one of the first to arrive at the drag lift facility in the valley at around 8.40 a.m. and wanted to shovel the snow that had fallen during the night off the cable pulley.
“Nobody else is down in the valley that early, we always have a team meeting up at the mountain station. From there we activate the lift to see if everything is working anyway,” says ski lift operator Pilsl.
Same thing yesterday morning. A 31-year-old colleague switched on the ski lift system in the mountain station – at low speed in order to control the lift. What he didn’t know was that Tomas K. was busy working on the lift in the valley. In the valley, Tomas K. had climbed onto the structure of the tow lift to clear the snow from the sheave. “He must have forgotten to deactivate the lift,” says lift operator Pilsl.
As the lift started to move, Tomas K. got caught between the sheave and the lift support and was trapped. Pilsl, who worked at the snow cannon near the lift station in the valley, witnessed the accident – the sight of the young man shook him. “I had to watch everything, it was a serious accident at work. Exactly one day before, we talked about the important safety precautions,” says Pilsl.
Any help came too late
The Kirchschlag fire brigade arrived with 17 men at the valley station of the ski lift. The Red Cross and the C10 rescue helicopter were also there quickly. But for Tomas K. any help came too late.
“It was really bad to see the young man like that,” says fire brigade operations manager Gregor Maurer. The firefighters were cared for on site by the crisis intervention team. “The most important thing in such a situation is to talk about it,” says Maurer, who was involved in such a dramatic rescue operation for the second time.
After the terrible accident at work, the public prosecutor’s office initiated investigations into negligent homicide, said authority spokeswoman Ulrike Breiteneder. The suspect was initially the person who switched on the lift. However, it cannot be ruled out that the fault lay with the deceased.
On the website, the lift operator announced a short break in operations yesterday morning. The lifts in Kirchschlag were already back in operation from 12 p.m. (cap/staro)
Source: Nachrichten
