At the beginning of the year, the luge world championships take place on the Oberhof bobsleigh track in Thuringia. The site is also used for other events. Now there is a terrible accident on the train with one dead and several injured.
There is mourning in Thuringia after a fatal accident on the bobsleigh and luge track in Oberhof. According to the Suhl State Police Inspectorate, a 46-year-old man died on Thursday evening. He suffered such serious injuries that he died in hospital, police said. In addition, a 41-year-old was seriously injured and other people were slightly injured.
“Obviously, both a four-man bob and a double tube ring – a so-called ice tube – were on the track at the same time for reasons that have not yet been clarified. They collided in the run-out area,” it said. In addition to the pilot, two other men and a woman are said to have been in the bobsled. Two of them were taken to the hospital. Ice tubes are rubber rings filled with air.
The police deployed a crisis intervention team. The inspection also announced that an expert had been commissioned to reconstruct the accident. The Suhl criminal police will take over the further investigations.
“The horrible accident on the Oberhof bobsleigh track took a person’s life.” He mourns the deceased with the relatives, hopes for a speedy recovery for the injured and thanks the helpers “who worked tirelessly last night,” wrote Thuringian Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow on Twitter.
According to the previous investigations, a guest bobsled in the target area in two hose rings, so-called ice tubes, drove, as an employee said. The man who was killed is said to have been in one of these hose rings, with which laypeople can also use the railway.
The accident happened around 6:40 p.m. Around two dozen police, fire brigade, mountain rescue and medical services were on site. The cause of the accident is still unclear, it is the subject of police investigations. Until the cause of the accident has been clarified, the operator has suspended rail operations with immediate effect. Competitions and training operations planned for Friday are therefore cancelled, as the employee said.
The luge world championships took place on the track at the end of January. The site is also used for guest events. For example, guests can ride in a bobsleigh steered by a professional or ride down the ice chute with tube rings.
