Fire crews still struggling to reach Gotthard accident site
Rescue workers are still struggling to reach the site of a blaze in the Gotthard tunnel, more than 20 hours after the fire broke out. At least 10 people were killed after two trucks collided near the southern end of tunnel, triggering the inferno.
Fire crews returned to the scene in the early hours of Thursday, and were advancing slowly towards the accident site with hoses and blasts of highly pressurised air.
The temperature close to the blaze dropped from 1,000 to 200 degrees Celsius overnight, but remains too high for the firefighters to approach ground zero. The authorities hope the crews can reach it on Thursday.
Ticino police say at least 10 people have been confirmed dead so far, and warned that the death the toll is likely to increase
“Most of the people died because of the smoke,” Lieutenant Luca Bieri, spokesman for the Ticino cantonal police, told swissinfo.
Toxic smoke
Residents of the nearby village of Airolo were told to remain indoors and to keep their doors and windows closed, since the smoke pouring from the tunnel could be toxic. One truck involved in the crash had been carrying tires, which burst into flames.
The defence minister, Samuel Schmid, said army units were ready to assist in rescue efforts, if needed.
Traffic in the Gotthard, the main route through the Alps, has increased significantly since 1999 when a fire closed the Mont Blanc tunnel – the main alpine link between France and Italy.
Switzerland took a number of steps to improve tunnel safety following the Mont Blanc accident, Leuenberger said, and those steps may have prevented further loss of life in Wednesday’s accident.
The mayor of Airolo, Mauro Chinoti, said he believed the highway tunnel would remain closed for a long time. He expressed concern about the village’s isolation during the coming winter months.
Bieri said the Gotthard tunnel would be closed “at least some weeks”, and that long-distance travellers could use alternate mountain routes.
Safety corridor
The 7.8 metre-wide Gotthard tunnel holds two lanes of traffic as well as a safety corridor to enable rescuers to reach the scene of an accident quickly, although the corridor is too narrow for fire-fighting vehicles.
Some 18,000 vehicles traverse the tunnel daily.
There are survival spaces at 250 metre intervals throughout the tunnel, which can accommodate up to 70 people. The ventilation system is capable of replacing the air in the tunnel within 15 minutes.
Each year, about five fires are reported at the tunnel. Nonetheless, it is considered to be a safe route for motorists.
swissinfo with agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.