The destroyed coach in Austria Photo: Gert Eggenberger/APA/dpa
From BZ/dpa
Immediately before the coach accident in Austria that left one dead and 46 injured, the driver said he bent over for his water bottle.
A spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office in Klagenfurt confirmed on Thursday that the 27-year-old had told investigators that he was thirsty and tried to pick up the bottle in the footwell. The “Kronen Zeitung” had previously reported on the man’s statement.
Early on Tuesday morning, the Flixbus double-decker coming from Berlin left the road in a curve on a highway in the state of Carinthia, hit a guardrail and overturned.
Rescue workers at the destroyed coach Photo: Gert Eggenberger/APA/dpa
A 19-year-old Austrian woman died and the other 46 passengers were injured. Among the five seriously injured was a 25-year-old German from near Potsdam. The bus was on the way to Trieste.
The spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office emphasized that despite the driver’s statement, the cause of the accident had not yet been determined. Tachographs still need to be evaluated and technical reports drawn up.