Man dies in hospital Car and driver sink in Rhine near Mondorf
Niederkassel · A car drove into the Rhine at Mondorf harbour in Niederkassel on Monday. The driver was still in the vehicle and was rescued from the car by divers. The man died in hospital of his serious injuries.
A car drove into the Rhine at the harbour in Niederkassel-Mondorf on Monday afternoon. Several passersby alerted the emergency services at 4.20pm. According to Bonn fire brigade, when they arrived the car was still visible floating several metres from the bank. The driver was still in the car.
The first responders first made contact with driver and attached a rope to the car. However, the rescue attempts failed as a short time later the car sank to the bottom of the Rhine. Divers got the man, who was unresponsive and had life-threatening injuries, out of the car, which was lying in four metres of water. The man was resuscitated and taken to hospital. He died there in the evening.
According to eye witness reports, the man was inside the car for at least 20 minutes before he could be rescued. According to the reports, passersby tried in vain to rescue the driver themselves. According to the fire brigade, the drivers of a recreational boat were also in contact with the driver but these rescue attempts also failed.
The car was then secured with a steel cable and pulled to the shore using the winch on a mobile crane. An airbag was used to keep the vehicle on the surface. Police have started investigations into the cause of the accident. At present, the local emergency services cannot explain how the man and his car got into the Rhine.
A total of more than 80 firefighters from Bonn, Bornheim, and Niederkassel and units from the German Life Saving Association (DLRG) and the Technische Hilfswerk took part in the operation.
(Original text: Felix Schröder. Translation: kc)
