Kaprun disaster
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The Kaprun disaster was the result of a fire that occurred in an ascending railway car in the tunnel of funicular train "Gletscherbahn 2" in Kaprun, Austria, on November 11, 2000. The disaster claimed the lives of 155 people, leaving only 12 survivors from the burning car.
After the passenger train ascended into the tunnel shortly after 9:00am, a leak of flammable hydraulic fluid from the braking system fed a fire in the unattended driver's cabin at the lower end of the train (the driver was seated in whichever cabin was facing the direction of travel of the train). The melting of the plastic lines and resulting loss of fluid pressure caused the train to halt unexpectedly. The train driver quickly realised a fire had broken out, reported it to the control centre, and attempted to open the hydraulically operated train doors, but the system pressure loss prevented them from operating. The passengers, by this stage aware of the fire and unable to exit through the doors, attempted to smash the break-resistant plexiglass windows in order to escape. A number of passengers from the rear of the train who successfully broke a window followed the advice of a passenger with some fire fighting experience and travelled downward past the fire.
Many of the still-trapped occupants had by now lost consciousness due to toxic fumes. Eventually, the driver was able to unlock the doors, allowing them to be manually forced open by the remaining conscious passengers who spilled out into the tunnel and fled upwards and away from the fire. Unfortunately, the tunnel acted like a giant chimney, sucking oxygen in from the bottom and sending the poisonous smoke billowing upwards. All the passengers ascending on foot, as well as the train operator, were asphyxiated by the smoke. Three people in the Alpine Centre located at the top end of the track 2500 metres away were also asphyxiated by the deadly fumes rising from the tunnel. Two fleeing workers in the Alpine Centre, upon seeing the smoke, escaped via an emergency exit. They left the exit doors open, a factor which increased the chimney effect within the tunnel by allowing air to escape upwards more quickly and further intensifying the fire. The driver and the sole passenger on the railway's second train, which was descending the mountain in the same tunnel from above the burning carriage, also died of smoke inhalation.
The twelve survivors of the disaster were the passengers from the train who travelled downhill past the fire at the rear of the train, escaping the upward-rising fumes and smoke.
Nearly one year after the fire, the official inquiry determined the cause was the failure, overheating and ignition of one of the electric heaters installed in the driver's compartments that were not designed for use in a moving vehicle. A slow leak of highly flammable hydraulic oil was ignited by the burning heater, which in turn melted the plastic fluid lines further feeding the flames, and also resulting in the hydraulic pressure loss which caused the train to stop and the doors to fail.
The funicular was never re-opened after the disaster and was replaced by a chairlift. The stations were abandoned and the tunnel sealed.
The victims were skiers on their way to the Kitzsteinhorn Glacier:
- 92 Austrians
- 37 Germans
- 10 Japanese
- 8 Americans
- 4 Slovenians
- 2 Dutch
- 1 Briton
- 1 Czech
On February 19, 2004, Judge Manfred Seiss acquitted all 16 suspects on trial in the disaster. All suspects - including company officials, technicians and government inspectors - were cleared of criminal negligence. Judge Seiss said there was insufficient evidence to find the suspects responsible for the conditions that led to the blaze.