A two-year-old girl owes her existence to a number of fortunate circumstances. While playing, the child fell into an underground watercourse and was immediately swept away. Her rescuer spoke to the “OÖ-Krone” about the dramatic minutes.
A two-year-old girl from Peuerbach had an army of guardian angels. The little girl and her Afghan family were on a hiking trail in the “Valley of the Seven Mills” in their hometown on Friday evening in the best late summer weather.
Child fell into the water
The Leithenbach runs right next to the path, from which several tributaries lead to a small power station. The family is said to have visited one of the weir systems and the girl climbed onto the system and fell into the water.
Father jumped after daughter
The two-year-old was immediately pulled into the underground watercourse, which is about a meter in diameter. “It’s pitch black there, about three-quarters full and bursting,” says Wolfgang Eder of the Peuerbach fire brigade, who was on duty at the time of the accident. After about 200 meters, the covered channel flows into the turbine of the small power station.
Hunter happened to be there
At the time of the accident, Kurt Koller (44) was also in the nearby forest with his wife and two children ‘to collect decoration material for a nativity scene’, as the passionate hunter tells the ‘Krone’. Suddenly, the girl’s father came to him very excitedly and called for help.
“Then I go with him to the defense. Because my hunting area is there, I knew there were maintenance shafts above the canal,” says the 44-year-old. That was a blessing in disguise, because it would be impossible for people unfamiliar with the area to know or find the openings in the overgrown area.
Dramatic minutes
As Koller ran to the first shaft, the girl’s father also desperately jumped into the waterway and disappeared into the darkness. But the two were extremely lucky and probably got stuck in a bottleneck.
I heard the girl’s screams
“When I opened the first manhole cover about 50 meters after the inflow, I heard the child screaming,” Koller said. The father and the girl then came up through the shaft and were both shocked and happy. While the hunter’s wife set the rescue chain in motion, the 13-year-old son helped lift the manhole cover and then gave instructions to the arriving emergency services.
Almost unharmed
The toddler was handed over to them wet and hypothermic, but virtually unharmed. The firefighters who had also been called in had only to secure the scene of the accident. Commander Eder concluded: “If the hunter had not acted so quickly, the child would probably have drowned.” the right thing. You are only happy when everything turns out well.”
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
