Truck collides with tram in Linz, 5 hurt, road shut

A truck collided with a tram in the Austrian city of Linz on Wednesday afternoon, derailing the tram, injuring 5 people and shutting the B1 federal road, police said. The crash happened at about 3:42pm at the Wahringerstrasse stop on Wiener Strasse, part of the B1, in the Kleinmünchen district.

A 51-year-old truck driver struck the tram while turning left, according to Kurier, which said police were looking into how the manoeuvre led to the crash. He was taken to Kepler University Hospital along with the 55-year-old tram driver and three passengers, women aged 45, 57 and 62, police said.

The collision caused the tram to jump its tracks and triggered a large tailback, Kronen Zeitung reported. Four ambulances attended the scene soon after the collision; the Red Cross said six people in total were affected, though only minor injuries were reported, and five of them were taken to hospital for further checks.

Fire crews freed all passengers from the tram by about 4:30pm, Heute reported. The crash shut the B1 federal road, known locally as Wiener Strasse, for at least an hour and a half between Lunzer Strasse and Neue Welt, with no way through either between Lunzer Strasse and Salzburger Strasse, Heute said.

Trams were turned back between the Kleinmünchen depot and Neue Welt, while replacement buses ran via the Ebelsberg bypass, Kronen Zeitung reported. Tram lines 1 and 2 remained suspended between the Kleinmünchen depot and Turmstrasse for several hours, with replacement buses initially unable to stop at the Neue Welt, Scharlinz, Wahringerstrasse and Wimmerstrasse stops, Heute said. The tram was back on its tracks by around 5pm, operator Linz AG said.

Police did not immediately comment further on the cause of the collision beyond confirming the truck driver had been turning left when the vehicles collided.