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Herbert Pichler, president of the Austrian Disability Council, died in a traffic accident on the night of Holy Saturday in Vienna-Donaustadt. At around 4.15am, the 56-year-old was sitting in his car parked on the side of the road on Breitenleer Strasse and had opened the left rear door of the vehicle. According to police spokeswoman Barbara Gass, a 33-year-old man drove into the door and captured Pichler.
He was so seriously injured that he died at the scene of the accident. The 33-year-old man was unharmed. Initial investigations revealed that he was driving without a driver’s license but under the influence of drugs.
ÖGB President Katzian shocked
With Pichler he is losing “too soon a trade unionist who worked tirelessly to support people with disabilities,” ÖGB president Wolfgang Katzian said in a broadcast.
As director of the Opportunity Benefits Office – he helped create – at ÖGB he campaigned for the inclusion of people with disabilities, people with chronic or mental illnesses in the labor market. “We will not forget his commitment and the joy he had when he was able to help people,” Katzian emphasized. As president of the Austrian Disability Council, Pichler has been working intensively on inclusion, especially in schools, since 2017.
