Heroic deed in Regensburg: School bus races towards disaster - teacher intervenes and prevents accident drama
Created: 2022-06-01 13:23
By: Felix Herz
Thanks to the teacher's courageous efforts, none of the primary school children were injured (symbol image).
© picture alliance/dpa |
Franziska Kraufman
The courageous intervention of a teacher prevented a serious accident involving a school bus in Regensburg.
The driver had previously suffered a dizzy spell.
Cham – The fourth grade of the Hans-Scholl elementary school from Burglengenfeld in the district of Schwandorf was on the way to a one-week trip to a mountain hut in the Bavarian Forest by school bus.
During the journey, however, an incident occurred that could have ended very badly: the driver suffered from a dizzy spell and passed out.
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Driver faints: teacher prevents bus disaster
The bus driver's body suddenly went limp on the B20 near Cham.
There were 41 school children on the bus, along with four teachers and a school social worker - and they were all speeding toward disaster.
The school bus went uncontrolled into the oncoming lane of the main road and collided with a car.
The teacher Stefan Rittger reacted in a flash and jumped to the cab, reports the
BR
.
Since he couldn't get past the unconscious bus driver, he crawled on all fours into the footwell of the driver's cab and pressed the brake pedal with his hands.
In this way, the teacher managed to stop the bus, which was still sliding along a crash barrier.
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Parents “totally grateful”: students continue the trip
With his courageous intervention, Rittger prevented a real catastrophe.
According to
BR
, there would have been a major accident including a collision with a truck.
Even a pile-up would have been possible on the busy B20 near Cham.
The behavior of the 56-year-old teacher was "incredibly courageous and at the same time very level-headed," commented headmistress Ingrid Donaubauer on the incident to
Bavarian radio.
No one on the bus was injured in the incident, only the driver of the car suffered minor injuries.
According to Donaubauer, the parents of the 41 primary school children are "totally grateful".
After the accident, the legal guardians were contacted immediately, but the students and teachers decided to continue their trip.
According to the headmistress, they visited the summer toboggan run and went on a hike, where the children worked through what had happened.
The teacher who saved the day doesn't want to make a big deal out of it: "I'm glad it turned out like this.
We're looking ahead now and don't even think about what could have happened," Stefan Rittger told BR.
(
fhz
)
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