The death toll from a fire which trapped trucks and cars in the Mont Blanc tunnel between France and Italy is 35, the operator for the Italian side of the tunnel said last night.
Rescuers have counted 23 charred trucks, nine cars and one mini-van in the 11 km (seven mile) tunnel, Mr Franco Colombo, vice-president of the Italian Mont Blanc Tunnel Company, told reporters. "There are 35 confirmed victims, the definitive toll is 35," he said.
The fire which broke out on Wednesday turned into an inferno, trapping motorists and truck drivers inside the tunnel cutting through the Franco-Italian Alps. The extent of the disaster emerged only yesterday when rescuers finally extinguished the blaze and reached the centre of the tunnel.
In Chamonix on the French side of the tunnel, town hall official Claude Marin said the victims appeared to include a French family of five, and an Italian family of four trapped as they returned home to Morgex from dental treatment in Chamonix.
Earlier, a Belgian truckdriver said he had to run for his life after his lorry caught fire in the tunnel.
Mr Gilbert Degrave (57), from Ganshoren, near Brussels, told the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws of the terrifying moments on Wednesday when fuel leaking on to the truck's exhaust pipe caught fire. He said he looked in the mirror and saw smoke, then stopped his lorry laden with 12 tonnes of flour and eight tonnes of margarine.
"The flames were already coming from under the cabin. There was no time any more to grab the fire extinguisher. Everything was ablaze in half-a-minute," Mr Degrave was quoted as saying.
"I ran for my life. Behind me hell broke loose. In a few minutes the tunnel was like an oven. I've been extremely lucky." He was subsequently picked up by a police car.
Mont Blanc Tunnel and Autoroute (ATMB) said rescuers battling thick smoke and intense heat found 20 trucks and 10 or 11 cars in the central section of the tunnel where the fire started. Regional authorities said 11 charred bodies had been found in the tunnel, which was still on fire on the third day since the disaster.
They spoke of reports from anguished relatives and truck companies of 30-40 people believed to be driving in the area when the fire started and still unaccounted for.
One newspaper report said that a haulage company found out from credit card records that its missing driver had paid the toll to the tunnel shortly before the blaze.
ATMB said the fire trapped eight trucks heading for France, as well as 12 trucks and 10 or 11 cars driving towards Italy.
Regional prefect (government representative) Mr Pierre Breuil said there were more cars than previously thought in the central stretch of the tunnel. He also said some 30 people may have died.
Some motorists managed to escape before the fire spread to other lorries. But others were trapped and rescuers said they were probably burnt to ashes as the fire turned the tunnel into an oven, melting the asphalt and pushing temperatures to around 1,000 Celsius.
Radio reports said the tunnel roof had caved in. The intense heat caused tyres to explode and thick smoke was badly hampering the rescue work.
The first rescuers had to take shelter in fire-proof refuges on the sides of the two-lane gallery. Several French fireman were overcome by fumes and one of them died of a heart attack.
Rescuers were working their way towards the centre of the tunnel from both the French and Italian sides. Charred trucks were being towed out of the tunnel on the Italian side. Officials said the tunnel would be closed for weeks.