Car plunges 15 metres into stream near Bad Ischl

A car left the B153 road in the Weißenbachtal valley near Bad Ischl on Tuesday and fell into a stream, ORF reported. The vehicle came to rest upside down in the water, while the driver escaped without assistance and was treated by the Red Cross.

The crash happened early Tuesday afternoon. The volunteer fire brigades from Mitterweißenbach and Pfandl, along with Bad Ischl’s main fire station, were called to a traffic accident involving a vehicle and a possible rescue.

When emergency crews arrived, no one was still inside the car. For reasons that were not initially known, it had left the road, slid down an embankment and landed in the streambed about 15 metres below a bridge.

Recovery was difficult because the wreck was hard to reach in the stream. Firefighters also had to prevent leaking fuel and other fluids from polluting the water, so they installed several oil barriers before lifting the car out with a crane. The damaged vehicle was then handed over to a towing company.

The B153 was temporarily closed in both directions during the operation and was later reopened to one lane. The Red Cross, including an emergency doctor, the Bad Ischl road maintenance service and several federal police patrols also attended.