A car caught fire in the Katschberg tunnel on the Tauern motorway (A10) in Salzburg on Sunday evening. When the 39-year-old driver saw smoke coming from the engine compartment, he stopped the car in a breakdown bay. The Serb and two passengers were able to get to safety in time. Dozens of passengers in following vehicles were brought out of the danger zone via rescue tunnels and the second tunnel tube; some drivers were able to drive out of the tunnel themselves.
Image: Volunteer Fire Department Rennweg am Katschberg
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Image: Volunteer Fire Department Rennweg am Katschberg
“A total of around 170 people were affected in both tunnels,” Markus Pfeifenberger, commander of the St. Michael im Lungau volunteer fire department, told APA. “There was a lot of traffic returning from vacation, so there was a lot going on in the tunnel.” The fire was quickly extinguished, partly because the tunnel ventilation system extracted the smoke from the fire site, allowing the fire department to access it quickly. Traffic in the 5,898-meter-long tunnel had to be closed in both directions for the operation.
Incidentally, a member of the Federal Army, who was also stuck in the tunnel, caused a distraction in one of the escape tunnels. He promptly took his accordion out of his car and played a few pieces. Apparently one of the songs was aptly called “On the Autobahn”.
Videos of the incident were already circulating on social media on Monday morning. According to the fire department, the man and a colleague had calmed the tense situation. There were also many children in the tunnel crossing. The fire department praised the man for his civil courage:
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