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Thousands of cars trapped on Vienna motorway

16 Nov 2007 09:33:07 GMT
Source: Reuters

ALLAND, Austria, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Thousands of cars were trapped overnight on a motorway ring around Vienna after lorries slipped on the snow-covered road and blocked it.

Around 100 Red Cross helpers were handing out blankets, tea and sausages to motorists and were evacuating children and mothers after up to 50 centimetres (20 inches) of snow fell in the area around the Austrian capital.

"From the (town of) Heiligenkreuz everything is at a standstill. The cars are covered by thick layers of snow," national news agency APA reported a rescue worker as saying. "I haven't seen anything like that in my whole career."

Austrian weather forecaster ZAMG said the snowfalls were the heaviest in the Vienna area in November since 1995.

While there were no major accidents, many drivers were still stuck in their cars on Friday morning as the motorway was gradually cleared.

One track of the hilly ringroad linking the westward and southward motorways was still blocked compeletely. Policed blamed lorries' inadequate summer tyres for the roadblocks.

ZAMG said snowfalls would abate during Friday morning. (Reporting by Rudi Blaha; Writing by Boris Groendahl; Editing by Catherine Evans)

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Last updated:Fri Nov 16 09:32:16 2007