Alpine horror as 170 skiers die in tunnel

BETWEEN 150 and 170 people died after a cable train carrying a group of skiers, most of them young and some of them British, caught fire yesterday morning deep inside a two-mile tunnel in the Alps.

The passengers were trapped inside as the fire roared through the mountain train, which stopped automatically after cables snapped. Last night it was believed that just 18 people had survived the inferno, all either German or Austrian. The Red Cross said the rest died inside the narrow two-carriage funicular at Kitzsteinhorn, south- west of Salzburg.

The identity of victims will only be confirmed by jewellery, x- rays and dental records. The process could take up to two weeks to complete. Austrian TV, quoting police and fire services, confirmed four hours after the fire began that there were no more survivors. It is the worst rail disaster in Austrian history.

High winds from the Kitzsteinhorn mountain turned the tunnel into a blast furnace, stoking flames to temperatures of 2000 degrees celsius. One carriage was completely incinerated, while others were severely damaged. At one stage liquid metal portions of the chassis of the train were running in rivulets along the tunnel gulleys.

The blaze broke out at 9.30am and was still burning fiercely at lunchtime. Nine skiers smashed a window using a ski pole to leap on to the tracks and scramble 600 metres back through the tunnel to daylight.

Last night a survivor of the fire described how victims had screamed and struggled to escape the blazing tunnel. "Lots of people screamed in fear for their lives as they tried desperately to get out," said one of the nine Germans who escaped from the train. "They tried to tear open the closed doors and to break the windows.

"I just battled to escape and only managed to do so by the skin of my teeth after someone broke a window and I struggled out."

Experts were last night baffled as to the cause of the disaster. Speculation that the blaze may have been caused by an electrical fault, a cigarette or cooking gas canisters on board could not be confirmed. Experts will not begin examining the wreckage until Sunday.

Initial reports claimed the train had automatically halted after a cable snapped and then whipped past the carriages, starting the fire. However, it may have been brought about by a short circuit or a fire started accidentally by a passenger. Unconfirmed reports last night suggested the double safety doors at the top and bottom of the tunnel were left open by mistake. According to this theory, a throughdraught sucked flames and smoke up through the tunnel so rapidly that passengers were unable to react, as were the three skiers who died waiting at the station at the top of the mountain.

An Austrian Red Cross spokesman said: "Some stumbled out with their faces blackened and retching for breath.

"They were lucky. It is a disaster of gigantic proportions. The glacier draws an international crowd of tourists. The victims could be from many countries." The Red Cross said there were between 150 and 170 victims, half of them Austrians and the rest from other countries.

The train, which is pulled up the side of the mountain by cables, was about 600 metres inside the 3.6km long tunnel when the blaze started. Engineers said the train fitted into the tunnel "like a glove" - leaving hardly any room between the doors and the side walls.

Aerial pictures of the scene early on showed smoke billowing from the mouths at either end of the 3800-metre long tunnel - thick black smoke indicating burning oil, plastics and the fixtures of the carriages. More than 120 firemen raced to the scene. Many of them had to be winched down one at a time to the entrance to the tunnel. From there, they proceeded on foot inside. The first few attempts were turned back within minutes as their rubber boots melted from the heat.

The train was installed in 1994 and had its last major overhaul in 1997. However, a full safety check was carried out earlier this year. Tourist authorities said the trains were checked regularly for safety and #3 million had been invested recently.

A hospital in the area said 18 people had been brought in by ambulance. All suffered cuts, bruises and smoke inhalation.

Three people in a station at the top of the railway were also killed by poisonous fumes, as was the attendant in an empty train coming in the opposite direction down the tunnel.

Austrian police spokesman Stefan Mayer said the area has been declared a "catastrophe region" and the governor of Salzburg has called for a day of mourning.

Throughout the day rescue workers were praying that the main cable that was hauling the train up a steep incline would hold.

Salzburg fire department spokesman Joerg Henkel said: "The subsidiary cable has broken and the main one is holding. We pray that it continues to hold, otherwise we face the risk of the train detaching itself and rocketing back down through the tunnel. It would come back down like a bullet if the cable broke."

Horst Hickl, a volunteer fireman, said: "Some of the boys who have been in there and taken a glimpse for themselves report a hellish scene of melted skis, jackets and personal possessions."

The Kitzsteinhorn was the scene of a terrible skiing tragedy in March this year when 12 people died in an avalanche.

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