Two Britons killed in ‘fast and furious’ Alpine horror crash
TWO young British men died when their car careered through a rail and plunged 1,300ft off a mountain pass during a road rally through Austria yesterday.
Police said the men, aged 22 and 25, died when their Seat Leon left the Grossglockner High Alpine Road near the village of Fusch, 60 miles east of Innsbruck.
A police spokesman said the men had been taking part in a rally between the Belgian capital Brussels and Budapest in Hungary since July 18. They were on a road 8,000ft above sea level where the speed limit was 62mph when they lost control of the car and crashed at 7.30am local time yesterday.
Photographs from the scene show the mangled wreckage of the blue car at the bottom of the ravine and rescuers checking for survivors before the remains of the vehicle were towed away to be examined by crash investigators.
The spokesman said the 22-year-old man was from South-East England but released no other personal details. It is believed the 25-year-old was driving. He added that a 42-year-old British man who was driving a Porsche was being questioned after contacting police when the others failed to turn up for a rendezvous.
The 12,460ft Grossglockner is Austria’s highest peak and one of the highest in the Alps.
The pair were taking part in an event called the Great European Rally, a legal and noncompetitive event. The rally’s website says the Grossglockner High Alpine Road has ‘36 hairpin bends’ and a ‘fantastic road surface’.
Explaining how the rally works, it adds: ‘It’s not a race or a time trial. Our events are held on public roads and are governed by the local laws. Our routes are planned in such a way that there is no need to speed.’
Reports from Austria initially suggested the Britons may have been driving in an illegal road race and their car had reached speeds of more 120mph before the crash. But police later said the suggestion of an illegal road race was unfounded.
After the car smashed through a guard rail, a rescue attempt was launched involving a police helicopter, the Austrian Mountain Rescue Service and firefighters.
The police spokesman said the men were both thrown from the car by the crash and were pronounced dead at the scene.
‘There is no need to speed’