Alpine tunnel closed after fatal fire

An Alpine tunnel linking France and Italy will be closed indefinitely following a 600°C truck blaze that killed two people, Italian and French officials said yesterday.

The victims, both men, were from Slovakia and Slovenia.

The fire, on Saturday, occurred in the Frejus tunnel that cuts under the Alps just 160 km south of the Mont Blanc tunnel where 39 people died six years ago in another fire.

Firefighters at Frejus took seven hours to extinguish the blaze in the 13-kilometre tunnel and officials said it would not be opened until they were sure there was no risk of the walls or ceiling collapsing as a result of the searing heat.

"The closure of the Frejus tunnel should take several months," said Gilbert Santel, head of the company that manages the French side of the tunnel, adding that prior to the fire some 3,800 trucks passed through the Frejus each working day.

Italian Transport Minister Pietro Lunardi, who met his French counterpart Dominique Perben at the tunnel yesterday, said he hoped to find a "rapid solution" because of the economic impact its closure would have on Italy and France.

"We will work on a strategy together to improve the security of the tunnel," Mr Lunardi said in a statement.

The Frejus tunnel, one of the main road links between France and Italy, connects Lyon and Turin, and runs close to the site of the 2006 Winter Olympics in the Italian Alps. Some two million vehicles use the route each year.

Survivors told Italian newspapers yesterday the fire in one truck quickly spread down the tunnel, engulfing as many as four other lorries and several cars.