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Judgement day
Page 20
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A court hears the facts around the 1999 Mont Blanc tunnel fire that killed 39 and awards the blame. Dominic Perry reports.
A FRENCH COURT this week found 10 people and three companies guilty of manslaughter for their part in the horrific Mont Blanc tunnel fire in 1999 that killed 39 people.
The French and Italian companies that run the 11.6km tunnel under the Alps were fined for their part in the lire, alongside the head of safety at the French side of the tunnel, Gerard Roncoli, who was sentenced to 30 months in prison of which 24 months were suspended. Gilbert Degrave, the Belgian driver of the truck that was the first vehicle to catch fire was given a four-month suspended sentence.
The fire had started in Degrave's Volvo truck, which was carrying a load of margarine and flour. He spotted the lire in his mirrors, stopped the truck and escaped on foot.
Two-day blaze
In the meantime, the blaze engulfed 24 other trucks, nine cars and a motorcycle and burned for more than two days, reaching temperatures of over 1,000C.
Most of the deaths were caused by inhalation of toxic smoke. Dcgrave was accused of failing to move his truck into a siding to allow other drivers trapped behind him to get past. He had claimed this was not possible.
During the trial, serious questions were raised about the safety records of the state-owned firms involved in running the tunnel. Previous inquiries into the fire had shown that smoke alarms in the area where the fire started were not working, radio frequencies used inside the tunnel were different to those used by the French emergency services, there was no common Franco-Italian emergency plan and, in the nine minutes after the tire started around two dozen vehicles were allowed to enter the tunnel. To compound the problems. the Ital ian authorities mistakenly pumped fresh air into the tunnel, fanning the flames, instead of extracting the smoke.
SITMB, the Italian operator of the tunnel, was fined €150,000, while ATM B, the French operator, was fined €100,000. However, the court decided against banning the two companies from managing the tunnel. Both companies are believed lobe struggling financially and have said they will not appeal against the verdict.
VolvoTruck had been one of the 16 companies and individuals originally charged after prosecutors claimed the fire had been started by a mechanical fault. However, this charge was dismissed due to a lack of evidence.
Mayor to appeal
Michel Charlet, mayor of the nearby French town of Chamonix, said he would appeal against his six-month suspended sentence and €1,500 fine. He says the fact that so many trucks continue to use the tunnel against his advice, shows he has no control over it.
Remy Chardon, the former head of ATMB and current head of another French motorway operator, was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence and €15,000 fine.
The victims' families, however, say they are pleased by the verdict. Andre Denis, head of the association representing them,says:"It's a decision that conforms with our wishes. The sentences are fairer than those called for by the prosecutor, with at least one symbolic prison sentence. We can only appreciate this.
"Everyone is responsible for their acts, even if they are involuntary," he adds. "Obviously this will not bring back our dead, they will never come back. But life goes on and this judgement allows us to look towards the future."
The association's lawyer, Alain Jaku bowicz. adds:"The families of the victims now want to find peace and for that reason we hope there will be no appeal."
Guy Willis, a spokesman for the International Road Transport Union, says it proves the association's argument for increased Trans-Alpine capacity through the construction of a second "tube" at the tunnel. He says: "It indicates that the environmental opponents who scored an agreement a long time ago not to build a second tunnel were grossly misguided and they are as guilty as those put on trial.
"It seems the authorities have been obliged to look at safety since then and they take it more seriously now, although it's appalling that it took this to get there."