An Austrian-flagged sailing boat has been seized in southern Italy when coastal guards discovered more than two dozen refugees on board. Twenty-five asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq were found on the vessel which sailed under Austrian flag. The refugees were taken to a local centre for asylum seekers, officials in the city of […]
Coach banned for lacking wheel
A coach was kept from continuing driving for having one wheel too few on Tuesday. The Czech passengers continued their journey back home in a replacement vehicle, traffic police said today (Thurs). The driver was fined after they found out the six-wheel coach lacked a back wheel. He argued having been incapable of fixing a […]
Flasher on the loose at lake
Styrian police are investigating after two women were approached by an exhibitionist. The man stripped in front of the females close to the banks of a reservoir outside the town of Edelschrott in Voitsberg district. He followed them as they ran away, but turned the other way when four strolling teenagers appeared yesterday evening (Weds). […]
Fatal bathing accident in Styria
A Styrian man died in a pond near Feldbach yesterday afternoon (Tues). The 58-year-old was already dead when a doctor and paramedics arrived at the lake in Riegersburg. Witnesses told the police he swam to the middle of the public bathing pond before he drowned. Medics did not manage to resuscitate him.
Paltry interest in internet
Austrians are showing the least interest in going online among all European countries, a survey has shown. Austrian magazine profil reports Austrians surf the internet just 14 hours a month which is half the European average. People living in the Netherlands are at the top with 35.2 monthly internet hours. Britons come second (33.9 hours), […]
Drunken driver drags along policeman
A policeman was injured when he was dragged along the road by a boozed-up motorist. The officer tried to remove the car key from the ignition after the owner of the vehicle aroused his attention due to his erratic driving style and the unusually low positioning of his seat in Vienna’s Brigittenau district yesterday evening […]
‘Drug craze’ rave planners hit back
Organisers of a rave have defended themselves after the event was branded as a “drug orgy” by the press. Thirty people ended up in hospital after the festival in Falkenstein, Lower Austria, at the weekend. Six drug dealers were arrested. Around 80 people are facing drug charges. Newspapers claimed the event escalated into a “wild […]
German police and the Austrian foreign ministry are investigating after a chopped-up body found in a river in Berlin was identified as an Austrian. Investigators in the capital city of Germany want to await the results of a DNA check. However, they announced today (Weds) that a friend of Raoul Schmidhuber, 31, identified the torso […]
Sieve licence photo gets all-clear
A resident of Vienna angered by authorities has been allowed to wear a sieve on his head in a photograph used for his driving licence. Niko Alm explained today (Weds) he was furious that officials had no problem with Muslim women wearing headscarves when posing for their driving licence and passport pictures. The atheist decided […]
Tyrolean Alps claim 13 lives
The number of hiking and climbing fatalities in an Austrian tourism hotspot has soared. Rescue officials in the province of Tyrol announced today (Tues) that 13 people had lost their lives in the region’s mountains so far this year. They pointed out that just four people had died in the same time span of 2010. […]