Freight train strikes car, injuring 89-year-old driver

An 89-year-old driver was injured when a freight train struck his car at a railway crossing in Götzendorf an der Leitha, in the Bruck an der Leitha district, on Tuesday morning, ORF reported.

The man was driving on state road 163 towards Götzendorf at about 8 a.m. when he crossed the single-track railway line. He appears to have failed to see the freight train approaching from the right, police said.

The train crew immediately applied the emergency brakes, but the car was dragged about 35 metres before the train stopped. The driver was injured and flown by the Christophorus 9 emergency helicopter to University Hospital Wiener Neustadt.

Police said the crossing had neither warning lights nor a barrier.