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Protest blocks up Mont Blanc
Page 7
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• About 2,000 environmental protesters blocked both entrances to the Mont Blanc tunnel on Tuesday—the day it was due to re-open to heavy trucks.
The trans-Alpine tunnel has been closed since the devastating fire three years ago in which 39 people died. Following repairs and safety improvements ft was reopened to cars and light CVs earlier this year.
However, residents from Chamonix on the French side of the tunnel are pressing for the HGV ban to remain, arguing that the tunnel is unsafe and the lorries damage the fragile Alpine environment.
Jens Hiigel, spokesman on environmental and economic affairs for the International Road Transport Union (IRO), says that the union called for unrestricted alpine transit at its recent world congress. He adds: "If you close the tunnel trucks still have to go through the mountains somewhere".