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Kaprun disaster

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File:Kaprun.train.750pix.jpg
The funicular train (white) is waiting at the valley station. It enters the tunnel where the fire occurred after the short open-air section on trestles (seen here). The tunnel entrance is just visible as a black dot at the end of the trestles.

The Kaprun disaster was the result of a fire that broke out in the tunnel of the funicular train in Kaprun, Austria on November 11, 2000, taking the lives of 155 passengers. The few that were saved ran past the flames downhill, albeit with some burns. Those that ran uphill away from the flames were smothered by the smoke.

Nearly one year after the fire, the official inquiry determined the cause was a faulty heater in the train and highly flammable hydraulic brake oil.

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
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