The Schlögener Donau-Schlinge is a tourist highlight on the Danube between Passau and Linz. Now she was the scene of a dramatic rescue operation.
Passau/Wesenufer – Shortly before midnight on Monday, a cruise ship was on its way on the Danube from Vienna towards Passau. The ship was just passing the Schlögener Schlinge (Upper Austria), in which the Danube describes two tight curves in the deep valley, when a couple from Berlin, among others, sat on board the “Bolero”, he 57, she 61 years old, in his cabin.
A cruise passenger fell into the Danube just before the Austrian border – his wife only heard a splash
At midnight the spouses quarrel and the man leaves the cabin. A little later, the woman hears another splash, but she thinks nothing of it. The ship that comes from Budapest and has Passau as its destination continues to pitch. After half an hour, the Berliner starts worrying: where is my husband?
He is nowhere to be found on the ship, which is only a few kilometers from the Bavarian border – he must have fallen or jumped into the water. The wife alerts the crew, and a huge rescue operation begins: 115 firefighters and divers search for the missing person in six boats.
57-year-old falls from a ship into the Danube: One and a half hours of survival in the cold stream
After about an hour of searching, a boat discovered the 57-year-old drifting a few kilometers downstream in the eleven-degree cold Danube. His condition is critical, spending more than an hour and a half in cold water is an enormous challenge for the body. The Berliner is brought ashore under ongoing resuscitation measures and immediately cared for by an emergency doctor. The 59-year-old is finally taken to the Kepler University Hospital in Linz.
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