AT LEAST one person has died after fire broke out in a tunnel linking Italy and France on Saturday night.
People fled for their lives after a tractor-trailer burst into flames, starting a fire inside the eight-mile long Frejus road tunnel in the Alps.
Italian firefighters recovered one body and were trying to locate three or four people seen running away from the blaze.
An official in the French town of Chambery confirmed that one person had died, but said people who had taken refuge in tunnel safety zones on the French side had been rescued.
Annick Bien said: “All the people who were in the safety alcoves have been evacuated.”
Bien said the fire was still burning, and confirmed that one person had died.
Firefighters said it was proving difficult to reach the seat of the blaze because of the intense heat.
And some trucks had been trapped in the tunnel, according to Italian news agency Apcom.
The blaze revived memories of the 1999 fire in the nearby Mont Blanc tunnel that killed 39 people.
That burned for two days while firefighters tried to reach trapped cars.
TheSun
