Fatal rockfall in Christkindl: Father of victim faces court
After a rockfall in February 2023 in Upper Austria, a Carinthian company boss and a geologist are facing court on charges of negligent manslaughter. A verdict is expected on Thursday.
Rockfall trial: Company boss and geologist charged with negligent manslaughter
According to the Kleine Zeitung, proceedings will continue on Thursday in the case of a fatal rockfall in the Steyr district of Christkindl – following a several-month break in hearings. On 8 February 2023, two men from Carinthia, aged 31 and 64, died in the accident.
On trial are the senior boss of the Carinthian firm SST Schuster Spreng Technik from Weißenstein in the Villach-Land district, as well as a geologist from Upper Austria. Both must answer charges of negligent manslaughter, and both have maintained their innocence so far. An expert report on the rockfall incident, commissioned by the court, is now available.
The firm SST was carrying out securing work on a slope on the day of the accident. At around 10.20 a.m., a rock block approximately 3,000 cubic metres in size broke loose and plunged downwards. The two men had no way to escape – they were buried under the rock mass and died instantly. Only after a week, once a safe access road had been built, could the bodies be recovered under enormous safety precautions and transferred to their home region of Carinthia.
One of the defendants is the father of the 31-year-old victim. Speaking to the Kleine Zeitung, he stated that he was fighting "for our deceased son". "I will not be blamed for the death of my son and our employee. We worked to the best of our knowledge on the basis of the information available to us."
A central question in the proceedings is whether the Carinthian firm was fully and clearly informed by the civil engineering firm that drew up the tender of the extreme danger posed by the slope before work began. The company boss denies this; the geologists dispute it.
If found guilty, the defendants face up to two years in prison. Both are presumed innocent.
Source: Kleine Zeitung