Swedes hurt in Austrian coach crash
AFP - [email protected]
Published: 7 Jan, 2008 CET.
Updated: Mon 7 Jan 2008 07:54 CET
A Danish coach carrying mostly Macedonians and Swedes careered off a motorway bridge in southeastern Austria overnight on Saturday, injuring up to 40 passengers, seven of them seriously, police said on Sunday.
Investigators said the coach, which was heading north, left the bridge after taking a gradient at 100km/h (62mph), twice the permitted speed-limit, falling some 10 metres onto the Graz-Webling interchange below.
"Paradoxically, the high speed at which the coach was travelling meant it avoided a vertical plunge, which explains how, by sheer luck, there are no fatalities among the 50 passengers," investigator Heinrich Waxenegger told AFP.
The injured were taken to two hospitals in Graz for treatment, but the Red Cross said none were considered to be in a critical condition.
Police identified some 30 Macedonians among the injured, as well as seven Swedes, two Danes and one Norwegian, most of Macedonian origin.
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Investigators said the coach, which was heading north, left the bridge after taking a gradient at 100km/h (62mph), twice the permitted speed-limit, falling some 10 metres onto the Graz-Webling interchange below.
"Paradoxically, the high speed at which the coach was travelling meant it avoided a vertical plunge, which explains how, by sheer luck, there are no fatalities among the 50 passengers," investigator Heinrich Waxenegger told AFP.
The injured were taken to two hospitals in Graz for treatment, but the Red Cross said none were considered to be in a critical condition.
Police identified some 30 Macedonians among the injured, as well as seven Swedes, two Danes and one Norwegian, most of Macedonian origin.
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