Gas explosion in Wilhelmsburg in 1999

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The gas explosion in Wilhelmsburg occurred in Wilhelmsburg , Lower Austria , on December 2, 1999 in the evening hours. Ten people died in the collapse of a three-story building.

course

The house in Conrad-Lester-Hof in Wilhelmsburg, Lower Austria , was renovated in 1999, 30 years after it was built. Towards the end of the work, lightning protection systems were to be installed on December 2, 1999 . A fitter accidentally drilled a gas pipe because no precise plans were available. A summoned EVN employee was quickly on site and carried out measurements. In the building's basement, the air mixture contained 20 percent gas. The EVN employee then opened a few windows, turned off the power and had the house evacuated . A short time later another EVN technician arrived and sealed the defective pipe.

The following gas measurements did not reveal any increased gas density, residents were allowed to enter the house again and the electricity was turned on. The investigation following the accident revealed that around 1000 cubic meters of gas, 100 of which in the basement, must have leaked. The pent-up gas-air mixture was caught by the ignition spark in a freezer, and an improperly laid electrical cable channeled the gas supply.

About 40 minutes after the power was switched on, around 6:30 p.m., according to first press reports around 6:50 p.m., the explosion occurred. The three-story residential building with 12 apartments collapsed, leaving behind a cone of rubble eight meters high and 40 meters long.

Since the office of the Samaritan Association was in the immediate vicinity of the scene of the accident, the rescue service was on site very quickly. Initially, it was assumed that up to 40 people had been buried, but since not all residents had returned to their apartments after the evacuation, only 15 people were in the building at the time of the explosion. Four people were able to free themselves shortly after the explosion. After a short time, the local rescue services and volunteer fire brigades came to the aid of the army’s NBC defense train from St. Pölten and some rescue dog squadrons . Groups from the NBC defense school from Vienna's Wilhelmskaserne also arrived later . In the following 30 hours, two people were rescued: an elderly woman, whose legs were trapped between two concrete slabs, had both legs amputated on site. She died four weeks later in St. Pölten Hospital . A 15-year-old girl was saved alive. Nine people could only be recovered dead.

Causes of misfortune

In June 2001, the fitter of the lightning protection system and two EVN technicians had to answer ten cases before a criminal judge at the St. Pölten Regional Court because of negligent public endangerment resulting in death . The two technicians were each sentenced to two years in prison, one month of which was mandatory . The fitter received a two-year prison sentence, which was suspended completely. The judgment became final in May 2003.

The court's experts pointed out 13 mistakes made by the men, which in total caused the accident. In addition to the fitter drilling into the gas line, the EVN technicians made wrong decisions. They opened too few windows and did not stop the gas supply. In addition, they carried out the gas density measurements in too few and in the wrong places after the defect had been rectified. The electric cable fitter was not to be blamed and no charges were brought against him.

consequences

The apartment block directly adjacent to the collapsed building had to be torn down shortly after the explosion due to static problems.

After the residents of the house, who were out of the house at the time of the accident and who had survived the accident, had drawn up a detailed list of the household effects and valuables, EVN agreed out of court to compensate 75 percent of the material loss. This compensation is said to have amounted to a total of 20 million schillings (adjusted for inflation about 2,080,000 euros ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Gas explosion in the house: three fitters carry the load. In: Der Standard , June 9, 2001, p. 10
  2. ↑ a b report of the volunteer fire brigade Wilhelmsburg
  3. ↑ a b Gas explosion destroys residential building - Several Wilhelmsburger dead. In: Der Standard , December 3, 1999, title page
  4. ↑ Gas explosion: Probably nine victims . In: Rhein-Zeitung , online edition of December 3, 1999
  5. ↑ a b The silence after the explosion. In: Der Standard , December 4, 1999, p. 2
  6. ^ Gas explosion in Wilhelmsburg in Militia Info, issue 1/2000
  7. ↑ a b Gas Explosion: Ten Years After . ( Memento of December 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Courier
  8. ↑ a b Process of gas explosion. In: Der Standard , June 2, 2001, p. 11
  9. ↑ Country Chronicle - Lower Austria. In: Der Standard , January 29, 2000, p. 14

Coordinates: 48 ° 6 ′ 0 ″  N , 15 ° 35 ′ 53.4 ″  E