Overview
- The tracked excavator, which toppled Monday morning during work on a new lakeside bike pier, now sits half-submerged in Hopfensee near Füssen.
- The operator got out by himself and was not hurt, according to police.
- Fire brigades and the Wasserwacht, Germany’s volunteer water‑rescue service, secured the shoreline and laid an oil boom as a precaution.
- Crews are testing the water for fuel or oil, and early checks reported no clear signs of contamination.
- Next steps focus on a police probe into the cause and a near-term recovery of the roughly 25-ton machine.