• austriantimes.at
• croatiantimes.com
• romaniantimes.at
• viennatimes.at

Today

• Vienna - Johnny\'s Pub Quiz
• Vienna - Unknown Underground
• Vienna - Childrens Fun

© Sag.at

11. 03. 12. - 12:00

• more General News news
• RSS Feed General News

11. 03. 12. - 12:00

Cooked to Death

Detectives investigating the horrific deaths of two men slowly cooked to death in a massive oven say that the pair had tried to rip the insulation off the wall of the oven and clawed at the door in a desperate bid to get free.

The tragedy happened when the automatic door of the oven at the factory owned by the Salzburger Aluminium AG company in Lenz closed, and the giant oven which reaches a temperature of 800 degrees centigrade was switched on.

Police spokeswoman Daniela Gstöttner said that the two men - a 56-year-old who had worked at the factory for several years and a 49-year-old man who had been sent there by temp agency - would have realised what had happened when the hot air started to flood into the chamber.

She said: "Because of the intense heat at some point the men's clothes caught fire – and from there their bodies were burned. At the moment we are trying to work out how the door was closed and how it ended up being switched on. It could have been done manually or by remote control."

She said there was no indication that what had happened had been done deliberately.

Technical experts are currently looking at the remote control, an autopsy has also been ordered although there was little left of the men's bodies for a proper investigation.

Police are waiting until psychologists have finished counselling colleagues of the two men before beginning questioning tomorrow (Monday).

Staff had noticed that the two men were missing around midday and started looking for them – and an hour later it was noticed that the door to the massive pre-heating furnace which eventually reaches a temperature of up to 450 degrees centigrade had been closed and somehow switched on.

The furnace is used to start the process of heating up material for smelting.

The pair had been cleaning the furnace that morning. When staff opened the door the charred and blackened bodies of the two men were found lying on the floor inside.

Austrian Times

Five children rescued from raging river
Five children were rescued after being swept away by raging river currents in Salzburg, Austria.

Five children rescued from raging river
Five children were rescued after being swept away by raging river currents in Salzburg, Austria.

Electro-bike battery causes fire
Over 100 firemen were called out to battle a blaze when an Elctro-bike battery caused a garage to burst into flames in the middle of three houses in Rauris (Pinzgau, Salzburg region).

No valid sentence in the Doctor Adelsmayr case
The Upper-Austrian doctor who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Dubai in October last year is safe in Austria.

Baby snow leopards
Three baby snow-leopards born in Salzburg’s Hellbrunn zoo six weeks ago got their first brief taste of the outdoors this week.

25 million investment for Salzburg glacier
Glacier train operators in Kaprun (Salzburg region) are planning to invest a further 25 million Euros in the glacier area just two years after opening the Gipfelwelt 3000 high alpine xperience.

Four tons of rails stolen
Police are hunting thieves who stole four tons’ of railway track from an abandoned site in Salzburg.

Croat star Gibonni conquering Austrian market with 20th century rock
Croatian rock and pop singer/songwriter Gibonni is looking to conquer the Austrian market with his first ever English language album.

Body of missing 23 year old found
The body of a 23-year-old women from Taxenbach (Salzburg) who went missing on June 2nd after a mudslide, was found by a passer-by yesterday (Sunday) in the Salzach port of Neualm near Hallein.

Direct trains between Tirol and Vienna reopened
Direct train lines between Tirol and Vienna were reopened this morning (Monday) after floods forced the line to close for a week.