A 66-year-old cleaning lady died from the cold Monday night to Tuesday in southeastern Austria, after her hand was trapped in the wire mesh at the exit of her job when she went out, as soon as she finished her shift, the authorities announced.
Due to a failure of the switch inside the building, the woman passed her hand through the grid, to activate it from the outside. But she did not manage to pull her hand in time, she was trapped and died of the cold in the hours that followed.
The woman, who suffered a broken elbow when her hand was caught in the wire mesh, had already died of the cold when she was found around 01:30 a.m. by first aid men, who were alerted by relatives who were alarmed that she had not returned.
The tragic event took place in the city of Stahlofen where temperatures dropped below zero on Monday night to Tuesday.
The death of the 66-year-old was the first from the cold in Austria after a wave of polar cold began to hit European countries in late February, resulting in the death of more than 60 people.