[1] Several minutes later, the train conductor, who was in the cabin at the upper end of the train (which was the front, since the train was ascending), realized that a fire had broken out, reported it to the control centre, and attempted to open the hydraulically operated doors, but the system pressure loss prevented them from operating. Kaprun, Austria, Nov. 15, 2000The final death toll is 155 people in what can be pronounced historys worst cable car accident. Hotline numbers for worried relatives: Red Cross: 0043 662 81 44 300; District Council: 0043 65 47 20000. 10 Japanese Imboden. The US military in Germany said that two ski clubs from the Kaiserslautern military community were believed to have been in the Kaprun area yesterday. Authorities have yet to discover the cause of the explosion. / Miclea, Paul C.; Chow, Wan Ki; Chien, Shen Wen et al. Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! from Molkenkur to Knigstuhl (shown above), which uses antique cars with modern working So many young people, who were here to take part in today's snow-boarding event, have lost their lives and I share in the grief of the relatives of the victims." Kaprun Funicular Accident Worst in History - Ski Mag They called the blaze an "unbelievable tragedy", adding that "we and the whole village are in mourning". The tunnel acted like a giant chimney, sucking oxygen in from the bottom and rapidly sent the poisonous smoke, heat and the fire itself billowing upwards. Fatal tunnel sealed entrance Austria / Salzburg / Zell am See / abandoned / shut down, disaster site Where the funicular gletscherbahn kaprun 2 entered for his last ride ever.155 people died there,after the disaster the tunnel was sealed an the stations abandoned- Nearby cities: Coordinates: 4713'32"N 1243'14"E Add your comment in english On 11 November 2000, it was the site of the Kaprun disaster, in which 149 skiers lost their lives in a tunnel fire. Lessons learned from catastrophic fires in tunnels Minimum driver age is By: Francis Xavier, What happens when your campsite isnt bear-proofcheck out his video from the Oakland Zoo to find out. Miclea, Paul C. ; Chow, Wan Ki ; Chien, Shen Wen et al. Some recent advances in technology, specifically state-of-the-art ventilation and water suppression systems, are also discussed. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Contact information, One train would carry passengers up the mountain while the other train simultaneously descended the mountain. The Mooserboden hydroelectric plant uses water from two reservoirs held back by some of Austria's largest dam walls. 8 Americans Two fleeing workers in the Alpine Centre, upon seeing the smoke, alerted employees and customers and escaped via an emergency exit. Meanwhile, the centre filled with smoke and all except four people escaped from the centre. The zoo set up a mock camping (). The structural flaws of the funicular trains, especially the lack of safety mechanisms, were found to have played a role in the tragedy. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Like most funiculars, the Heidelberger Bergbahn has two cars Austria ski tunnel fire case opens. Miclea, P. C., Chow, W. K., Chien, S. W., Li, J., Kashef, A. H., & Kai, K. (2007). The topping out ceremony was held on 23 September 1955, a few months after the signing of the Austrian State Treaty. This nighttime picture of the funicular tunnel was taken with For the Indigenous Australian ethnic group, see, "Dauersiedlungsraum der Gemeinden Politischen Bezirke und Bundeslnder - Gebietsstand 1.1.2018", "Einwohnerzahl 1.1.2018 nach Gemeinden mit Status, Gebietsstand 1.1.2018", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kaprun&oldid=1118811962, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 29 October 2022, at 01:52. There were 12 survivors (10 Germans and two Austrians) from the burning ascending train. Prior to the passenger train leaving the lower terminus shortly after 9:00 am, the electric fan heater in the unattended cabin at the lower end of the train caught fire, due to a design fault that caused the unit to overheat. The disaster killed 155 people (150 on the ascending train, two on the descending train and three in the mountain station). that travel in opposite directions and pass each other at the midpoint of their Judge Seiss said there was insufficient evidence to find the suspects responsible for the conditions that led to the blaze. Built with Bucyrus equipment and massive help from the Marshall Plan European Recovery Program, the power plant became an icon of post-war reconstruction. The Austrian Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek incorporated the disaster in her 2003 play In den Alpen (In the alps). Miclea PC, Chow WK, Chien SW, Li J, Kashef AH, Kai K. International tunnel fire-safety design practices. By evening, several hours after the blaze ended, plumes of smoke were still spewing from the tunnel entrance, as firemen wearing breathing gear worked their way down the tunnel. The funicular was never reopened after the disaster and was replaced by a gondola lift, a 24-person Gletscherjet 1 funitel. The Kaprun Funicular Network and its Demise completely rebuilt after the Only eight of the estimated 180 passengers are thought to have escaped the carnage after breaking the window of the rear carriage and scrambling to safety. after changing to the vintage funicular at Molkenkur. Bergbahn. Tuesday, investigators found an oily substance on a mountain railway in Austria, offering the first potential clue. Kaprun Disaster - rail system - Forbes and The Washington Post. | The smoke kept ascending the tunnel, reaching the Alpine Centre located at the top end of the track 2,500 metres away. The train conductor, who was in the cabin at the upper end of the train (which was the front, since the train was ascending), 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 death count eclipsed the toll in the Italian ski resort of Cavalese in 1976 where 42 people died after a cable carrying suspended cars snapped. The Kaprun disaster was a fire that occurred in an ascending railway car in the tunnel of the Gletscherbahn 2 railway in Kaprun, Austria, on 11 November 2000. In the late 1920s the German AEG company and the Salzburg state government developed plans for a Hohe Tauern hydroelectricity power plant, including two reservoirs in the Kaprun Valley. Salvage workers and police continue to work steadily to identify victims and to discover the cause of the catastrophe. . By Philip Sherwell, Michael Leidig in Vienna, Julian Coman in Kaprun, Jenny Booth and Daniel Foggo 12 November 2000 12:00am. [5] Josef Schaupper, a seven-time Deaflympic medalist was also killed in the fatal accident along with his fellow deaf skiers. Twelve people from the rear of the train, who successfully broke a window with a ski pole, followed the advice of another escapee who had been a volunteer fire fighter for 20 years, and escaped downwards past the fire and below the 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 conductors compartments that were not designed for use in a moving vehicle. DOCUMENTARY: The Kaprun Disaster, The Funicular Railway Fire That publisher = "Amer. Getting married? Unofficial From The Web Climbing A slow leak of highly flammable hydraulic oil was ignited by the burning, melting 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 second section, to the Krefeld Hut, climbs 554 metres. Whatever the cause, the flames and smoke raced up through the tunnel with such speed and force that three people waiting at a station on the mountain were also killed by the fumes, as was the driver of an empty train travelling downhill. Groes Wiesbachhorn, 3,564m (11,693ft), part of the Hohe Tauern range, forming the border of Salzburg with Carinthia. 18, there's no upper age limit, and rates include insurance. Paul C. Miclea, Wan Ki Chow, Shen Wen Chien, Junmei Li, Ahmed H. Kashef, Kang Kai, Research output: Journal article publication Journal article Academic research peer-review. The conductor managed to get the doors open, but those who had not already passed out traveled up the mountain toward the control center, where they lost consciousness. Survivors described horrifying scenes as people trapped inside the train screamed with terror before the choking fumes silenced them. Fire safety in rail and road tunnels is challenging because of the specific features of the tunnel environment. This paper looks at some of the lessons learned from the Kaprun funicular tunnel fire of 2000; the King's Cross underground station fire of 1987; the Baku subway fire of 1995 and the Channel Tunnel fire of 1996. Causes of the Kaprun Disaster - UKEssays.com The third section, from the Krefeld Hut, is 2,192 metres (1.362 miles) long and climbs 575 metres. Tony Blair was told that British skiers were believed to be among the dead when he phoned Wolfgang Schossel, the Austrian chancellor, to offer his condolences, Downing Street said. The carriages each had a maximum capacity of 180 passengers. ascent or descent. Located at the foot of the Kitzsteinhorn Glacier, Kaprun is a year-round sports centre. Gletscherbahn 2 was a funicular railway with two carriages running from Kaprun to the Kitzsteinhorn which opened on 23 March 1974. A modern funicular car arrives in the lower station of the The intensity of the fire required the bodies to be identified with DNA samples, which forensic experts are now collecting. Forty young ski enthusiasts from Slovenia had the most fortunate escape when they missed the train because one of their group was in the lavatory. "Medical and recovery experts from Austria and Germany will today begin the harrowing indentification process which police said could take at least two weeks. N2 - The catastrophic consequences of the tunnel fires (e.g., the Mont Blanc tunnel, 1999, the Austrian Kaprun funicular tunnel, 2000, and the Swiss St. Gotthard tunnel, 2001) not only resulted in loss of life, severe property damages, but also left the public with a lack of confidence in using such systems. Join Outside+ to get access to exclusive content, thousands of training plans, and more. The new funicular opened in 2005, making it both the oldest and most modern of . Seat of a Salzburg burgrave from 1480, it was devastated during the 1526 German Peasants' War. Manfred Muller, the railway's security director, said: "We never thought it was possible that a fire could break out." Kaprun (German pronunciation: ) is . Fire safety in rail and road tunnels is . The fire melted through plastic pipes carrying flammable hydraulic fluid from the braking system, and the resulting loss of fluid pressure caused the train to halt unexpectedly (this was a standard safety feature). The death toll now stands at 158. Here is the full 44 "Fire on the Ski Slope" documentary television episode of "Seconds from Disaster", a documentary television series on National Geographic Channel. On 19 February 2004, Judge Manfred Seiss acquitted all 16 suspects, including company officials, technicians, and government inspectors, clearing them of criminal negligence. Mr Muller, the security director, denied reports that fire doors at the top and bottom of the tunnel were not closed, as they should have been. An automatic safety feature triggered, which brought the train to a halt, and the conductor realized a fire had broken out. The Kitzsteinhorn is accessed by the Gletscherbahn 1, an aerial lift in three sections, opened on 12 December 1965 to develop the area for glacier skiing. On 11 November 2000, 161 passengers and one conductor boarded the funicular train for an early morning trip to the slopes. The majority of those in the train were Austrians and Germans, but Americans and Japanese also lost their lives in the flames. Capt Harald Hofmann of the Salzburg police, said: "We will only be able to identify them from rings, X-rays and dental work.". Firefighters reached the centre and saved one of the four, while the other three were asphyxiated. It was first climbed in 1828 by local mountaineer Johann Entacher. Another cause may have been a short circuit in a battery that provides lighting and power for the train or a fire started accidentally by a passenger. The reservoir area has become a tourist attraction, with views over the towns of Kaprun and Zell am See. An investigation found that the train was poorly equipped to deal with fires, making the mountain disaster all the more tragic, as many deaths could have been avoided with better systems and care from the designers. International tunnel fire-safety design practices Asked about possible British casualties, Major Richard Schieder of the Austrian police said: "The problem is the people on board were very badly burnt so identification is going to be very difficult. The track and tunnel remained in place for over a decade after the disaster, although never used by paying passengers. The catastrophic consequences of the tunnel fires (e.g., the Mont Blanc tunnel, 1999, the Austrian Kaprun funicular tunnel, 2000, and the Swiss St. Gotthard tunnel, 2001) not only resulted in loss of life, severe property damages, but also left the public with a lack of confidence in using such systems. The fire was traced to an electric fan heater that overheated and caught fire, severing a number of . Kaprun disaster No smoke detectors were installed. This paper looks at some of the lessons learned from the Kaprun funicular tunnel fire of 2000; the King's Cross underground station fire of 1987; the Baku subway fire of 1995 and the Channel Tunnel fire of 1996. The catastrophic consequences of the tunnel fires (e.g., the Mont Blanc tunnel, 1999, the Austrian Kaprun funicular tunnel, 2000, and the Swiss St. Gotthard tunnel, 2001) not only resulted in loss of life, severe property damages, but also left the public with a lack of confidence in using such systems. Today the summit can be easily reached using the Glacier Aerial Tramway from the valley station at 911 m (2,989 ft), including the highest cable car pylon in the world, being 113.6 m (373 ft) tall with a diameter of 2.2 m (7 ft 3 in). All suspects including company officials, technicians and government inspectors were cleared of criminal negligence. Kaprun is a typical Alpine village, its streets lined by traditional stucco and wood chalet-style houses and hotels, their overhanging roofs iced in winter with a thick layer of snow. If you live outside the Gletscherbahn Kaprun 2 funicular fire in Austria killed 155 people on The sustainability of existing tunnels, given the increased road traffic and changed vehicle mix, or the new rolling stocks, needs innovative design practices. 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. Mrchenparadies (a fairy-tale park The disaster killed 155 people (150 on the ascending train, 2 on the descending train and 3 in the mountain station). The young woman - who was not named - said: "There was no hope for those who are left behind in the tunnel. Guidelines for Fire Safe Design: Synthesis and Current Harmonisation Tauern Spa World was completed in November 2010 and is the second largest spa complex in Austria. title = "International tunnel fire-safety design practices". The lowest section, running from Kapruner Thoerl up to the Salzburg Hut, is 2028 metres long and climbs 970 metres in altitude. After the passenger train ascended into the tunnel shortly after 9:00am, the electric heater in the unattended conductors cabin at the lower end of the train caught fire, due to a design fault. The passengers, by this stage aware of the fire and unable to exit through the doors, attempted to break the shatter-resistant acrylic windows in order to escape. There were 12 survivors from the burning ascending train. If the steel cable was torn, as has been reported, the cable itself would run downhill and if it ran fast enough the friction could be the cause of the fire.". Austrian police said that most of the victims had been burnt to ashes by a fire so ferocious that it destroyed everything but the train's chassis. MORE than 170 skiers and . The cable car caught fire in a mountain tunnel, making it difficult to access for rescuers and for those trapped inside to escape (via UPI). Heidelberg > Funicular. There was no cellphone reception within the tunnels, which meant that passengers had no method of contacting the attendant. The ignition was caused when a design fault caused the unit to overheat, which in turn caused the plastic mount for the heating element to break off, causing the element to jam against its plastic casing and catch fire. On 19 February 2004, Judge Manfred Seiss acquitted all 16 suspects. Fatal tunnel sealed entrance - Wikimapia and most modern of Germany's funicular systems. Two fleeing workers in the Alpine Centre, upon seeing the smoke, alerted employees and customers and escaped via an emergency exit. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Copyright 2023 National Academy of Sciences. parts. Eventually, the conductor 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. Kitzsteinhorn - Wikipedia You can exchange wedding vows on the historic Knigstuhl section of the Heidelberger Bergbahn. The Kaprun disaster was a fire that occurred in an ascending train in the tunnel of the Gletscherbahn Kaprun 2 funicular in Kaprun, Austria, on 11 November 2. The Kaprun disasterwas a fire that occurred in an ascending train in the tunnel of the Gletscherbahn Kaprun2 funicular in Kaprun, Austria, on 11 November 2000. The unit had its fire extinguishers out of the passengers reach in the sealed attendant compartments. Copyright 1996-2023 Durant and Cheryl There were no engines, fuel tanks, or drivers, only low-voltage electrical systems, 160-litre hydraulic tanks (used for the brake system) and an attendant who operated the hydraulic doors. In this section I will briefly explain the events that are known as the Kaprun disaster. The Truth About The Deadly Kaprun Railway Disaster - Grunge Meanwhile, the centre was filled with smoke and all except four people escaped the centre. Air-Conditoning Eng. 5 minutes to Molkenkur, and another 9 minutes to Knigstuhl For Welcome to Unofficial Networks's European Union Experience. The track cuts through a cliff and ridges as it heads up to the ski slopes. The lower section of the funicular, which runs underground from the The train complied with area safety codes, which did not address the systems installed on the train during its 1993 upgrade. The stations were abandoned and the tunnel sealed. The train, the Gletscherbahn 2, was a funicular railway running from Kaprun to the Kitzsteinhorn, opened in 1974. The disaster killed 155 people (150 on the ascending train, two on the descending train and three in the mountain station). . Ticket prices depend on how far you're traveling, and on whether you want to There were 12 survivors. On 11 November 2000, it was the site of the Kaprun disaster, in which 149 skiers lost their lives in a tunnel fire. The fire raged for days as rescuers tried to save survivors, but in the end only 12 survived, with 155 dead in Austria's deadliest tragedy since World War II. REUTERS/Calle Toernstroem REUTERS AX/FMS RF 2HK1C06 - The town of Zell am See in the Zell am See-Kaprun region, Austrian Alps, Salcburger land In 1606 Archbishop Wolf Dietrich Raitenau had the local burgrave beheaded for siding with local insurgents. funicular consists of two parts: The underground stretch from Kornmarkt to Molkenkur, which has all-new (Cars run underground between Kornmarkt, in the Altstadt, The Gletscherbahn Kaprun 2 was a funicular railway running from Kaprun to the Kitzsteinhorn, which opened in 1974. All I wanted to do was to get out. Some recent advances in technology, specifically state-of-the-art ventilation and water suppression systems, are also discussed. Absolutely heartbreaking. Firefighters reached the centre and saved one of the four, while the other three were asphyxiated.[1]. 11th of November, 2000 in Kaprun, Austria, WATCH: Ski Patrol Sets Off Major Avalanche At Crystal Mountain Resort, Windham Mountain Announces Plans To Become A Four-Season Destination Resort, VIDEO: Purposely Crossing Your Skis Prior To Takeoff Is A Bold Move, Oregon Ski Resort Extends Season Until Mid-May, Most of Yosemite Temporarily Closed Due To Snowmelt Flooding Concerns, Zoo Demonstrates What Happens When Campsites Aren't "Bear-Proof", Projected Closing Dates For Ski Resorts In The Northeast. A new transport system was eventually built, and the train never reopened, only leaving behind a sealed tunnel and a grim legacy. In September 2007, the public prosecutor's office found that the manufacturer of the electric heater was not responsible. Europe > The Kitzsteinhorn glacier railway has operated since 1974 and was the world's first Alpine underground railway. Each train had four passenger compartments and a cab at front and rear for the attendant, who switched back and forth as they travelled up and down. The total length of the system is just over 1.5 km. The disaster killed 155 people (150 on the ascending train, two on the descending train and three in the mountain station). The train conductor then lost contact with the control centre, because the fire had burned through a 16kV power cable running alongside the length of the track, causing a total blackout throughout the ski resort. disclosures, audience. The disaster of the Gletscherbahn Kaprun 2 funicular - YouTube Kaprun - Travel guide at Wikivoyage Planning was discontinued during the Great Depression and was not resumed until the Austrian Anschluss to Nazi Germany in 1938. The train involved in the disaster caught fire shortly after leaving the valley station and entered the tunnel where it came to a halt 600 metres from the lower end. Authorities have yet to discover the cause of the explosion. Chaprunne Castle was acquired by the Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg in 1287 and enfeoffed to the Lords of Felben in 1338. Many people were crying and screaming in fear for their lives. What Does It Take to Win Birds of Prey? The fire melted through plastic pipes carrying flammable hydraulic fluid from the brake system, resulting in the loss of fluid pressure which caused the train to halt unexpectedly 600 metres into the tunnel (this was a standard safety feature). From his hospital bed he said: "It was pure panic. Create a personalized feed and bookmark your favorites. 170 perish in Alpine tunnel inferno. Kaprun disaster | Detailed Pedia