GRAZ (STMK): On Saturday afternoon, October 29, 2022, a motorist from Graz (Innere Stadt) left the road and hit a tree in the outdoor dining area of a cafe. A woman was seriously injured.
At around 4pm, police received a report that a car crashed into a restaurant garden on the Opernring at excessive speed.
Large-scale operation activated
Due to the initially unclear visualization and facts, especially because perceived “hits” were also reported, a large-scale operation was initiated and the large-scale cordon and securing of the immediate area was carried out. There were 14 police patrols, 18 professional Graz fire brigade members with four vehicles and four Red Cross vehicles including an emergency doctor with 14 staff members.
No unbridled or terrorist background
After the immediate large-scale cordoning of the Opernring, Girardigasse, Glaxisstraße and Hamerlinggasse and the securing of the surrounding area, it was quickly established that there was no malicious or terrorist background to the incident. Such a scenario could already be ruled out at the beginning of the investigations on the basis of the testimonies of various witnesses and information from the subjects involved.
The vehicle involved was part of a wedding party traveling in a convoy of multiple vehicles. Possible supposedly perceived “shots” also turned out to be pyrotechnic firecrackers.
car accident
The 22-year-old driver from Graz had turned into the Opernring from the Girardigasse. Presumably due to excessive speed, the driver lost control of his vehicle and went off the road. The car passed the curb and eventually hit a tree that separated the street from the outdoor dining area.
A 53-year-old woman from Vorarlberg walking on the pavement was hit by the vehicle and trapped between the car and a fence of metal trees. The woman was immediately treated by first responders and then by rescuers and then taken to hospital with a serious leg injury.
There was no alcohol consumption. The checkpoints were gradually removed. From 17:30 all vehicular and pedestrian traffic was again possible, there was only a short-term obstruction due to the recording and measurement of the accident on the first lane of the Opernring.
