Man saves bus from plunging into ravine in Austrian Alps
Part of the vehicle hanging over the road's guard rail
Top of the Mount Saentis near Schwaegalp in the eastern Swiss Alps, October 15, 2009. PHOTO: REUTERS
VIENNA:
The quick reflexes of a French tourist saved a coach carrying 22 people from plunging into a ravine in the Austrian Alps, police said Sunday.
The 65-year-old man was one of 21 French tourists in the coach when the driver fell ill and collapsed on a high-altitude road near the city of Schwaz in western Austria.
Part of the vehicle was hanging over the road's guard rail, about to fall into a 100-metre (330-feet) precipice, when the man leapt from his front-row seat and pulled the brake at the last second.
Eight missing after landslide in Swiss Alps
"We were a hair's breadth from catastrophe," a police spokesman said, adding it was "incredible luck" that the passenger's reflexes managed to stop the bus.
Nine people were hospitalised in the accident, which took place on Saturday.
The quick reflexes of a French tourist saved a coach carrying 22 people from plunging into a ravine in the Austrian Alps, police said Sunday.
The 65-year-old man was one of 21 French tourists in the coach when the driver fell ill and collapsed on a high-altitude road near the city of Schwaz in western Austria.
Part of the vehicle was hanging over the road's guard rail, about to fall into a 100-metre (330-feet) precipice, when the man leapt from his front-row seat and pulled the brake at the last second.
Eight missing after landslide in Swiss Alps
"We were a hair's breadth from catastrophe," a police spokesman said, adding it was "incredible luck" that the passenger's reflexes managed to stop the bus.
Nine people were hospitalised in the accident, which took place on Saturday.