16-year-old hits tractor mast: thousands without electricity
Created: 08/04/2022Updated: 08/04/2022 16:02
A blue light and LED indicator glow on the roof of a police vehicle.
© Daniel Karmann/dpa/symbol image
A 16-year-old knocked over the mast of a high-voltage line with his tractor, causing a widespread power outage affecting tens of thousands of people in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Parts of the Euskirchen and Düren districts as well as the Rhein-Erft and Rhein-Sieg districts are without electricity, said a spokeswoman for the distribution network operator Westnetz on Thursday.
Weilerswist - "We are working feverishly on the restoration," she said.
An overhead line with 110,000 volts is affected.
On the advice of the authorities, a second, parallel connection was also disabled to be on the safe side, said the Westnetz spokeswoman.
According to the police, the 16-year-old drove into a cornfield in Weilerswist (Euskirchen district) at around 11:15 a.m. against the power pole.
The cause of the accident is still unclear, said a police spokesman.
The youth suffered minor injuries, as did a couple who were driving their car on the nearby county road and crashed into the power line.
According to the Euskirchen police, the mobile network is also partly affected.
All fire brigade equipment houses are staffed as contact persons for emergencies.
Where there is no electricity, the fixed network is also affected.
“Reduce your power consumption via rechargeable batteries and batteries to the bare minimum,” advised the police.
"Turn on the car radio and look for further information." If possible, one should inform oneself in the media.
The police increased their presence in the area.
In the Rhein-Erft district, there are parts of a hundred on site who were already in the vicinity for a planned operation.
These should be accessible to citizens there, said a police spokesman.
"People are worried, afraid."
According to a city spokesman, a good 29,000 citizens, i.e. almost two thirds of the residents, are affected in Erftstadt alone.
However, the electricity is gradually being switched on again.
dpa
