Tractor overturns off flood embankment near Chełmno, killing two boys aged 13 and 17
A tractor driven by a 17-year-old overturned on a flood embankment near Chełmno on Thursday, 15 October, trapping him and a 13-year-old passenger. Firefighters needed more than an hour to lift the machine, and both boys were pronounced dead.
The crash
On Thursday, 15 October, a tractor slid off a flood embankment at Ostrów Świecki, near Chełmno in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, and ended up on its roof. Two boys were on board: a 17-year-old at the controls and a 13-year-old riding as a passenger. Both were killed. Agnieszka Stankiewicz, a police spokesperson in Chełmno, said the tractor was travelling along the top of the embankment when the driver lost control of it for reasons that are not yet known. She described the early findings this way:
Preliminary findings show that the 17-year-old driver was carrying a 13-year-old.
The vehicle fell onto its cabin, which was completely crushed. The tractor was an articulated model, according to the local fire service.
Rescue effort
Kasper Korczak, a spokesperson for the Chełmno county fire service, told Super Express that the call reached the service at 18:24. Other reports put the moment in the late afternoon or evening, and Super Express said information reached emergency services after 18:00. Six fire crews, police and paramedics were sent to the scene, along with a specialist technical rescue group of the State Fire Service, which has equipment for lifting oversized vehicles and machines. Korczak said two people were trapped under the tractor when crews arrived. Firefighters spent more than an hour trying to raise the vehicle so they could reach them. Once the boys were pulled out, paramedics confirmed both were dead within minutes. Małgorzata Jarocka-Krzemkowska, a spokesperson for the Toruń regional fire service, summed up the operation:
The operation was very difficult and complicated.
She added that when rescuers finally reached the casualties, it was already too late to help them.
- Emergency call reaches the Chełmno county fire service
- Firefighters work for more than an hour to lift the tractor
- Paramedics confirm both boys dead within minutes
Investigation
Police officers and experts are working at the scene under the supervision of a prosecutor. Their task is to establish why the tractor left the embankment. The sources available so far do not give a cause. Stankiewicz's statement that the driver lost control of the machine for unknown reasons is the only account of the moment of the crash in the reports. The probe will determine the circumstances and direct cause of the accident.