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Snow brings traffic chaos to Alps

This content was published on Nov 23, 2001 Authorities in canton Graubünden closed the pass to trucks after the first substantial snowfall of the winter, which caused long traffic lines. Officials said the San Bernardino pass could not cope with the increased levels of traffic on the pass following the closure of the Gotthard tunnel, a key alternate route, last month. Collisions resulting…

Gotthard disaster spawns new pressure in Swiss mountains

This content was published on Nov 23, 2001 With both the Mont Blanc and Gotthard tunnels closed, passenger and freight vehicles are forced to take less suitable routes across the Alps, such as the San Bernardino tunnel, which links canton Graubünden with canton Ticino. Within days of the Gotthard closure there were two serious accidents at the San Bernardino. Now Graubünden police are…

Expert reaches scene of fire in Gotthard tunnel

This content was published on Nov 23, 2001 Jean-Claude Martin, a Lausanne-based professor of criminology and an internationally renowned expert on enclosed fires, is the first person to enter the area, which has been dubbed “Zone Red.” Martin will examine the extent of the damage over the next few days and will produce a report on his findings. Martin’s survey will then be…

Gotthard fire gives new impetus to move from road to rail

This content was published on Nov 23, 2001 That’s according to the Italian foreign minister, Renato Ruggiero, who was speaking in Bern on Tuesday, after holding talks with his Swiss counterpart, Joseph Deiss. Ruggiero suggested that Italy’s opposition to moving freight on to trains had softened since a fire forced the Gotthard’s closure, blocking a key north-south route for Italian goods to northern…

Gotthard closure leaves alternate route clogged

This content was published on Nov 23, 2001 Accidents have forced the closure of San Bernardino route on two occasions since a devastating fire gutted the southern end of the Gotthard – Switzerland’s main north-south axis – last Wednesday. The San Bernardino route, in canton Graubünden, re-opened on Tuesday after being shut for several hours when a truck collided with a passenger vehicle,…

Police revise number of Gotthard victims

This content was published on Nov 23, 2001 Previously, Ticino cantonal police had said 11 people were killed following the collision of two trucks in the tunnel, which sparked a devastating fire. Police said on Monday afternoon that nine victims have been identified and a tenth victim remains unidentified, however, there has been some confusion over the number of people confirmed dead or…

Safety experts examine Gotthard tunnel

This content was published on Nov 23, 2001 Swiss police say the current death toll from the accident stands at eleven and they have not ruled out the possibility of finding another five to ten bodies. Twenty-three people are still reported missing, although this number could include people who were not in the Gotthard tunnel at the time of the disaster, but whose…

Recovery efforts in Gotthard proceeding faster than expected

This content was published on Nov 23, 2001 According to Giovanni Gado, spokesman for the canton police, the efforts to stabilise the damaged 250-metre section of the tunnel were finished successfully on Saturday night. Swiss police say there is hope that the number of people killed in the inferno, which was triggered when two trucks collided head-on, may not rise above the 11…

Could fireproof concrete have prevented Gotthard collapse?

This content was published on Nov 23, 2001 The technology was used for the first time just four weeks ago in a small section of the Gotthard tunnel – where Wednesday’s crash and deadly fire occurred. Parts of the roof need not have collapsed when temperatures reached 1,000 degrees Celsius, said mining engineer, Volker Wetzig, head of research and development at Hagerbach test…

Gotthard disaster disrupts European traffic flow

This content was published on Nov 23, 2001 Swiss alpine passes cannot handle heavy commercial traffic, said Michel Egger, deputy head of the Federal Office for Roads. He is a member of the Swiss crisis team set up in response to the accident, which occurred on Wednesday when two trucks collided in the Gotthard tunnel, on a main European north-south route. The accident…

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Snow brings traffic chaos to Alps

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Gotthard disaster spawns new pressure in Swiss mountains

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Expert reaches scene of fire in Gotthard tunnel

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Gotthard fire gives new impetus to move from road to rail

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Gotthard closure leaves alternate route clogged

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Police revise number of Gotthard victims

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Safety experts examine Gotthard tunnel

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Recovery efforts in Gotthard proceeding faster than expected

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Could fireproof concrete have prevented Gotthard collapse?

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Gotthard disaster disrupts European traffic flow

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