Trashman
01-26-2009, 06:45 PM
BERLIN (Reuters Life!) – A German motorist missed a bend in the road, broke through a barrier and hurtled up a bank, crash-landing on a church roof in eastern Germany, police said on Monday.
The bank acted like a springboard, propelling the black Skoda about 35 meters (115 ft) forward and straight into the church's roof frame, where it remained wedged 7 meters off the ground, police said in a statement.
"We've never ever had a case of a car landing in a church before," said Frank Fischer, a spokesman for Chemnitz police in the state of Saxony.
The 23-year-old driver suffered serious injuries. The damage to the car, which was extracted from the roof by a crane, amounts to about 10,000 euros ($13,000), police said. The cost of damage to the church has not yet been estimated.
Police said speed was a possible cause for the accident, which happened late on Sunday.
Picture Link (http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20090126/2009_01_26t115649_450x335_us_car_church.jpg?x=213&y=158&xc=1&yc=1&wc=410&hc=304&q=100&sig=eePm3YzoHK4_e1KhHC0Ydw--)
The bank acted like a springboard, propelling the black Skoda about 35 meters (115 ft) forward and straight into the church's roof frame, where it remained wedged 7 meters off the ground, police said in a statement.
"We've never ever had a case of a car landing in a church before," said Frank Fischer, a spokesman for Chemnitz police in the state of Saxony.
The 23-year-old driver suffered serious injuries. The damage to the car, which was extracted from the roof by a crane, amounts to about 10,000 euros ($13,000), police said. The cost of damage to the church has not yet been estimated.
Police said speed was a possible cause for the accident, which happened late on Sunday.
Picture Link (http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20090126/2009_01_26t115649_450x335_us_car_church.jpg?x=213&y=158&xc=1&yc=1&wc=410&hc=304&q=100&sig=eePm3YzoHK4_e1KhHC0Ydw--)