11 ноя 2000 г. - Kaprun tunnel disaster

Описание:

The Kaprun disaster occurred on 11th November 2000 in Kaprun, Austria, claiming the lives of 155 people. It happened when a train carrying skiers and snowboarders to the Kitzsteinhorn glacier in the Austrian Alps caught fire in a tunnel.

The fire started in an electric heater in the unattended conductor's cabin at the back of the train, rapidly consuming the vehicle due to the flammable hydraulic brake fluid and plastic materials. The train was almost halfway up the mountain when it came to a halt. Smoke filled the tunnel, which was steeply inclined and acted like a giant blast furnace, sucking oxygen in from the bottom and sending toxic smoke, heat, and the fire itself billowing upwards.

Only 12 managed to escape – by breaking a window and going downwards past the fire and below the smoke. All passengers ascending on foot, as well as the train conductor, were asphyxiated by the smoke and then burned by the fire. A further two on the descending train and three in the mountain station also died, bringing the final death toll to 155, making it one of the deadliest accidents in the history of alpine transportation.