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Tourists rescued after 17 hours in Alpine cable car
Emergency helicopters rescued 20 people on Saturday who had been trapped for 17 hours overnight on an Alpine cable car near Germany's most famous castle.
13 Aug 2011
telegraph.co.uk[/align]
Helicopter crews lifted the cable car operator and 19 tourists to safety early on Saturday from a gondola suspended 330 feet above the ground on Tegelberg mountain in southern Germany. The cable car that climbs the mountain was halted on Friday after a paraglider tandem flight crashed into its cables, but strong winds hindered a swift rescue, police said.
A mountain rescue specialist was lowered into the gondola late on Friday, however, providing enough food and clothing to keep the trapped tourists warm and fed through the night. He also stayed with the tourists, who ranged from age four to 75. The 6,170-foot Tegelberg is within sight of one of Germany's most popular tourist attractions, Neuschwanstein Castle, which is often viewed as the inspiration for one of Walt Disney's fairy tale castles.
Those inside the 130 square foot gondola were "tense, but remained calm," thanks to a permanent radio link with rescue forces, said emergency services spokesman Roland Ampenberger. "What helps people in such a situation the most is information. It gives them a sense of safety," he said.
The entire rescue operation took about two hours, and more than 200 emergency personnel were on site, Bavaria's mountain rescue service said. The incident also blocked Tegelberg's second gondola, but that cable car was halted only 230 feet above ground and its 30 passengers were roped down to safety Friday evening, it said. Emergency services also airlifted some 130 people trapped at the mountain's top Friday back to the nearby village of Schwangau.
The two paragliders – a 54-year-old pilot and a 35-year-old passenger – were rescued by helicopter on Friday and suffered only minor injuries. Police have opened an investigation.
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They're focussing on thsoe in the cable-car, but the paragliders are the lucky bastards and no doubt!
Lucky B*stard
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Amazing survival of 50mph motorcyclist knocked out by low-flying pigeon… whose bike then accelerated to 140mph while he was UNCONSCIOUS
1st September 2011[/align]
A motorcyclist survived an extraordinary crash after he was knocked out by a low-flying pigeon, accidentally hit the throttle on his bike and accelerated to 140mph - while unconscious.
Matthew Brealy, 38, collapsed when the bird smashed through his helmet visor and shattered his glasses as he drove along a stretch of road. But he remained on the powerful 1,000 cc Suzuki GSXR which was sent hurtling a further 200 yards before it ploughed into an oak tree. The bike disintegrated on impact.
Mr Brealy, from Whittington Moor, in Chesterfield, suffered two skull fractures with bleeding to his brain, a broken leg, cracked ribs and a fractured hand following the crash in April. He spent ten weeks in Sheffield's Northern General Hospital where his hand was re-wired and a titanium rod was inserted in his leg. The veteran biker, who runs an electrical business, is now learning to walk again with help from his pregnant wife Emma.
He had been out with a friend and was travelling at around 50 mph on a road between Caenby Corner and Retford, in Nottinghamshire, when he was struck by the bird. ‘It smashed through my helmet visor and even smashed the lens of my glasses,' he said. 'I was doing about 50 mph at the time and the impact knocked me unconscious. It appears that I collapsed on the front of my bike and at the same time I hit the throttle so the bike just accelerated out of control. Police told me afterwards they estimated that the bike had gone from 50 mph to around 140 mph in a matter of seconds but thankfully for me it happened on a straight road which is why I probably didn't fall off the machine.
‘My bike hit an oak tree with a glancing blow, I was thrown clear and the machine was smashed to pieces under the impact. Police confirmed a pigeon was the cause of the accident. My visor was left with a hole in it and I was covered in pigeon blood and feathers.’
A farmer who came across the wreckage blocked the road with his combined harvester and paramedics treated the injured motorcyclist by the roadside for an hour before he was taken to hospital by air ambulance.
‘There's no doubt it was a bizarre, freak accident and I am aware that I am lucky to be arrive,’ he added. ‘I am 99 per cent back to normal but I have had to learn to walk again but with the support of my wife Emma, my family I was determined to get on my feet again and back to work.’
Amazing survival of 50mph motorcyclist knocked out by low-flying pigeon… whose bike then accelerated to 140mph while he was UNCONSCIOUS
1st September 2011[/align]
A motorcyclist survived an extraordinary crash after he was knocked out by a low-flying pigeon, accidentally hit the throttle on his bike and accelerated to 140mph - while unconscious.
Matthew Brealy, 38, collapsed when the bird smashed through his helmet visor and shattered his glasses as he drove along a stretch of road. But he remained on the powerful 1,000 cc Suzuki GSXR which was sent hurtling a further 200 yards before it ploughed into an oak tree. The bike disintegrated on impact.
Mr Brealy, from Whittington Moor, in Chesterfield, suffered two skull fractures with bleeding to his brain, a broken leg, cracked ribs and a fractured hand following the crash in April. He spent ten weeks in Sheffield's Northern General Hospital where his hand was re-wired and a titanium rod was inserted in his leg. The veteran biker, who runs an electrical business, is now learning to walk again with help from his pregnant wife Emma.
He had been out with a friend and was travelling at around 50 mph on a road between Caenby Corner and Retford, in Nottinghamshire, when he was struck by the bird. ‘It smashed through my helmet visor and even smashed the lens of my glasses,' he said. 'I was doing about 50 mph at the time and the impact knocked me unconscious. It appears that I collapsed on the front of my bike and at the same time I hit the throttle so the bike just accelerated out of control. Police told me afterwards they estimated that the bike had gone from 50 mph to around 140 mph in a matter of seconds but thankfully for me it happened on a straight road which is why I probably didn't fall off the machine.
‘My bike hit an oak tree with a glancing blow, I was thrown clear and the machine was smashed to pieces under the impact. Police confirmed a pigeon was the cause of the accident. My visor was left with a hole in it and I was covered in pigeon blood and feathers.’
A farmer who came across the wreckage blocked the road with his combined harvester and paramedics treated the injured motorcyclist by the roadside for an hour before he was taken to hospital by air ambulance.
‘There's no doubt it was a bizarre, freak accident and I am aware that I am lucky to be arrive,’ he added. ‘I am 99 per cent back to normal but I have had to learn to walk again but with the support of my wife Emma, my family I was determined to get on my feet again and back to work.’
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pirtybirdy
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- Posts: 2842
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Amazing escape for mother and daughter after lorry carrying 3,000 chickens flips over and crushes their car
20th September 2011[/align]
With a car squashed to almost half its size under a toppled lorry, this looks like an accident no one could survive. But when police arrived, they found the Peugeot driver and her mother not only alive but with barely a scratch between them. Somehow the pair had managed to lie as flat as possible and fit themselves into the tiny space left after the 32-ton lorry crushed their car.
The daughter had been driving on the inside lane when she noticed the lorry, carrying a load of 3,000 chickens, start to wobble. She grabbed her mother and pulled her down just as the vehicle hit them. They were inside, curled up together, when the emergency services arrived.
Traffic sergeant Andy Quigley was one of the first on the scene at the A64 in York on Monday. He described it as the most incredible escape he had seen in 16 years as a traffic policeman. ‘They are very lucky indeed,’ he said. ‘When we got the call that a lorry had overturned on a car, we fully anticipated we would be dealing with a fatal accident.’ Both women and the driver of the lorry were taken to hospital where they were treated for cuts, bruises and shock.
Efforts to clear the scene of wreckage were hampered because the lorry was carrying thousands of chickens, some of which lay dead and dying on the road and verge, and in cages still on the vehicle. RSPCA officers were called to assist in dealing with the birds.
It is not known why the lorry toppled over.
Amazing escape for mother and daughter after lorry carrying 3,000 chickens flips over and crushes their car
20th September 2011[/align]
With a car squashed to almost half its size under a toppled lorry, this looks like an accident no one could survive. But when police arrived, they found the Peugeot driver and her mother not only alive but with barely a scratch between them. Somehow the pair had managed to lie as flat as possible and fit themselves into the tiny space left after the 32-ton lorry crushed their car.
The daughter had been driving on the inside lane when she noticed the lorry, carrying a load of 3,000 chickens, start to wobble. She grabbed her mother and pulled her down just as the vehicle hit them. They were inside, curled up together, when the emergency services arrived.
Traffic sergeant Andy Quigley was one of the first on the scene at the A64 in York on Monday. He described it as the most incredible escape he had seen in 16 years as a traffic policeman. ‘They are very lucky indeed,’ he said. ‘When we got the call that a lorry had overturned on a car, we fully anticipated we would be dealing with a fatal accident.’ Both women and the driver of the lorry were taken to hospital where they were treated for cuts, bruises and shock.
Efforts to clear the scene of wreckage were hampered because the lorry was carrying thousands of chickens, some of which lay dead and dying on the road and verge, and in cages still on the vehicle. RSPCA officers were called to assist in dealing with the birds.
It is not known why the lorry toppled over.
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Miracle of woman who had a LIVE grenade lodged in her face - and survived... after brave doctors cut it out
Leon Watson
28th September 2011[/align]
In Mexico, they call her the 'Miracle Woman' - and it's easy to see why. Put simply, what happened to Karla Flores is incredible by any standards.
It all started one day when the mother-of-three, from Culiacán, in the state of Sinaloa, was selling seafood on the street. She heard a bang and something hit, knocking her down. Karla felt a burning sensation in her face and when she raised her hand to it there was blood. Then she lost consciousness.
When Karla woke up in Culiacán General Hospital she thought a stone or rock must have got lodged in her face. The 32-year-old said: 'The doctor asked me what happened. I told him that I thought a stone hit me. Then they started to look and discovered that it was some kind of projectile, but they didn't know what it was.'
The x-ray and the tomography showed a weird object stuck between the superior and inferior jawbones. Then they realised - it wasn't a stone, it was a live grenade. Apparently, the grenade was fired with a grenade launcher - the noise that Karla heard - but it didn't explode when it hit her face. It just got embedded.
Immediately the hospital was put on alert - because the deadly explosive could go off at any moment and kill everyone within 32ft. Barely able to breathe, Karla was isolated and the hospital's patients and staff evacuated. But the clock was ticking and something still had to be done with Karla. Most of the doctors didn't want to operate her.
Finally, the hospital head, Dr Gaxiola Meza, asked for volunteers. Four brave people came forward: Two anesthesiologists, Felipe Ortiz y Cristina Soto, the nurse Rodrigo Arredondo and Dr Lidia Soto. Along with two explosive experts from the Mexican army, they took Karla to an open field to operate on her.
They took all the surgical equipment with them, including light sources. That way, in case they made a mistake, nobody else would die. Karla, under only local anesthesia, was given a tracheotomy so she could breathe and four hours later, around midnight, it was done. The device was extracted from her head by a doctor wearing no armour and guided by military experts.
The patient lost half of her teeth, her face is deformed by the giant scar and, according to the doctors, she has at least three years of operations ahead. But she is alive.
Police are investigating but no arrests have been made.
Miracle of woman who had a LIVE grenade lodged in her face - and survived... after brave doctors cut it out
Leon Watson
28th September 2011[/align]
In Mexico, they call her the 'Miracle Woman' - and it's easy to see why. Put simply, what happened to Karla Flores is incredible by any standards.
It all started one day when the mother-of-three, from Culiacán, in the state of Sinaloa, was selling seafood on the street. She heard a bang and something hit, knocking her down. Karla felt a burning sensation in her face and when she raised her hand to it there was blood. Then she lost consciousness.
When Karla woke up in Culiacán General Hospital she thought a stone or rock must have got lodged in her face. The 32-year-old said: 'The doctor asked me what happened. I told him that I thought a stone hit me. Then they started to look and discovered that it was some kind of projectile, but they didn't know what it was.'
The x-ray and the tomography showed a weird object stuck between the superior and inferior jawbones. Then they realised - it wasn't a stone, it was a live grenade. Apparently, the grenade was fired with a grenade launcher - the noise that Karla heard - but it didn't explode when it hit her face. It just got embedded.
Immediately the hospital was put on alert - because the deadly explosive could go off at any moment and kill everyone within 32ft. Barely able to breathe, Karla was isolated and the hospital's patients and staff evacuated. But the clock was ticking and something still had to be done with Karla. Most of the doctors didn't want to operate her.
Finally, the hospital head, Dr Gaxiola Meza, asked for volunteers. Four brave people came forward: Two anesthesiologists, Felipe Ortiz y Cristina Soto, the nurse Rodrigo Arredondo and Dr Lidia Soto. Along with two explosive experts from the Mexican army, they took Karla to an open field to operate on her.
They took all the surgical equipment with them, including light sources. That way, in case they made a mistake, nobody else would die. Karla, under only local anesthesia, was given a tracheotomy so she could breathe and four hours later, around midnight, it was done. The device was extracted from her head by a doctor wearing no armour and guided by military experts.
The patient lost half of her teeth, her face is deformed by the giant scar and, according to the doctors, she has at least three years of operations ahead. But she is alive.
Police are investigating but no arrests have been made.
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'Miraculous' escape of woman driver whose car was dragged underneath lorry for hundreds of yards in bizarre motorway crash
Stephanie Darrall
3rd October 2011[/align]
Rescue workers said a woman was 'lucky to be alive' after her car was pinned under a lorry and dragged hundreds of yards down a motorway. The blue Renault Clio collided with a lorry on the northbound carriageway of the M6 in Staffordshire, between junctions 15 and 16. Emergency crews found the car wedged under the lorry's trailer and said it may have travelled a 'few hundred yards' down the carriageway.
Despite being trapped in the flattened car, the woman in her 20s was pulled out of the wreckage by firefighters. Amazingly, she escaped with minor scratches and did not even need hospital treatment after the incident on Friday morning.
West Midlands Ambulance crews said she had a 'miraculous escape'. A spokesman said: 'This was a serious collision but amazingly the young lady walked away uninjured. She did not even need to be taken to hospital she is lucky to be alive. The crash could have been so much worse, it is a minor miracle that no one was injured - not even the other driver.
'Considering the damage to the vehicle and the circumstances of the crash, the woman is extremely fortunate not to have suffered more serious injuries. The pictures show you just how bad the crash was. It was a very miraculous escape.'
The lorry driver was not injured in the crash.
'Miraculous' escape of woman driver whose car was dragged underneath lorry for hundreds of yards in bizarre motorway crash
Stephanie Darrall
3rd October 2011[/align]
Rescue workers said a woman was 'lucky to be alive' after her car was pinned under a lorry and dragged hundreds of yards down a motorway. The blue Renault Clio collided with a lorry on the northbound carriageway of the M6 in Staffordshire, between junctions 15 and 16. Emergency crews found the car wedged under the lorry's trailer and said it may have travelled a 'few hundred yards' down the carriageway.
Despite being trapped in the flattened car, the woman in her 20s was pulled out of the wreckage by firefighters. Amazingly, she escaped with minor scratches and did not even need hospital treatment after the incident on Friday morning.
West Midlands Ambulance crews said she had a 'miraculous escape'. A spokesman said: 'This was a serious collision but amazingly the young lady walked away uninjured. She did not even need to be taken to hospital she is lucky to be alive. The crash could have been so much worse, it is a minor miracle that no one was injured - not even the other driver.
'Considering the damage to the vehicle and the circumstances of the crash, the woman is extremely fortunate not to have suffered more serious injuries. The pictures show you just how bad the crash was. It was a very miraculous escape.'
The lorry driver was not injured in the crash.
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That's a huge pile of lucky there!
That's a huge pile of lucky there!
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Truck drops 146-tonne crane on road
15 Dec 2011[/align]
The base of a crane, weighing a massive 146 tonnes, fell off the back of a flatbed truck en route to the Airbus base near Hamburg early Thursday morning. The accident caused considerable damage to the road and destroying the vehicle escorting it, but no-one was injured. The accident took place at 1:54 am in the Finkenwerder area of the northern German city. The road has now been completely blocked off and an assessment is underway to determine how the incident happened.
“It is possible that the safety straps securing the load in place were not functioning correctly,” a police spokesman from the Hamburg police told The Local. “Other possible theories we are looking into are tiredness, which may have caused the driver to overshoot a corner.”
The driver of the transporter vehicle was reportedly turning the truck slowly when the flatbed area reared, causing the giant crane foot to slide off onto the road, which suffered massive surface damage. The equipment also fell onto the car accompanying it. The driver “was incredibly lucky,” said police spokesman said. “He escaped completely unhurt.”
Clearance of the accident scene is underway, and three cranes are being used to lift the damaged equipment. The crane foot will be taken by a new truck to the Airbus base, where it will be thoroughly examined before being used again.
Truck drops 146-tonne crane on road
15 Dec 2011[/align]
The base of a crane, weighing a massive 146 tonnes, fell off the back of a flatbed truck en route to the Airbus base near Hamburg early Thursday morning. The accident caused considerable damage to the road and destroying the vehicle escorting it, but no-one was injured. The accident took place at 1:54 am in the Finkenwerder area of the northern German city. The road has now been completely blocked off and an assessment is underway to determine how the incident happened.
“It is possible that the safety straps securing the load in place were not functioning correctly,” a police spokesman from the Hamburg police told The Local. “Other possible theories we are looking into are tiredness, which may have caused the driver to overshoot a corner.”
The driver of the transporter vehicle was reportedly turning the truck slowly when the flatbed area reared, causing the giant crane foot to slide off onto the road, which suffered massive surface damage. The equipment also fell onto the car accompanying it. The driver “was incredibly lucky,” said police spokesman said. “He escaped completely unhurt.”
Clearance of the accident scene is underway, and three cranes are being used to lift the damaged equipment. The crane foot will be taken by a new truck to the Airbus base, where it will be thoroughly examined before being used again.
Last edited by faceless on Sun May 04, 2014 2:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Police say this pickup truck became wedged on the Sixth Street railroad bridge over the Savannah River near Augusta, Ga., after its driver apparently tried to drive across the river to South Carolina (The Augusta Chronicle/Zuma Press)[/align]
Police say this pickup truck became wedged on the Sixth Street railroad bridge over the Savannah River near Augusta, Ga., after its driver apparently tried to drive across the river to South Carolina (The Augusta Chronicle/Zuma Press)[/align]