Story By: Michael Leidig, Sub-Editor: Angjela Trajkovska, Agency: Central European News
Three asylum seekers who were kicked off a train when they were caught travelling without a ticket got revenge by putting wooden planks and stones on the tracks to try and derail the next train to come along.
The shocking incident happened when the trio were caught by ticket inspectors travelling from the municipality of Vocklamarkt to the municipality of St. Georgen im Attergau in the Austrian state of Upper Austria, and were ordered off at the next stop.
The three, identified as a 27-year-old Moroccan asylum seeker, a 33-year-old Algerian and a 20-year-old Gambian had all boarded the train without buying a valid ticket.
They initially refused to leave the train but when they did, decided to carry on the journey by walking along the tracks towards St. Georgen.
A short while later the train driver was forced to carry out emergency braking to prevent a serious accident after discovering the items on the rails. The train driver they managed to restart after removing the objects, but hundred metres later found more objects on the rail.
A police spokesman said the three had managed to find an old tabletop and a huge paving slab, as well as wooden poles which could have derailed the train had the driver not reacted in time.
The three were tracked down using video camera footage from the train station, and admitted putting the objects on the tracks saying they were annoyed that they have been asked to leave the train.
They now face prosecution for travelling without a ticket and public endangerment.