Seconds From Disaster 01-02 Tunnel Inferno Full Episode

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00:00The Alps, Europe's majestic wonderland, and deep inside is one of the world's longest

00:08tunnels.

00:10Every day it carries thousands of motorists in safety until an ordinary truck explodes

00:16into flames.

00:19The tunnel turns into a terrifying death trap in just 14 minutes.

00:24Now with cutting-edge computer technology, we reveal exactly what went wrong.

00:34Disasters don't just happen.

00:35They're triggered by a chain of critical events that unravel the fateful decisions in those

00:40final seconds from disaster.

00:47Europe, France, Mont Blanc.

00:54March 24, 1999, 10.30 a.m.

01:02The world's deepest tunnel, cut through solid rock, lies a mile and a half beneath Mont Blanc,

01:09Europe's highest mountain.

01:12It is a vital link between France and Italy, and truck drivers like it because it shortens

01:17their journey from seven hours to a mere 15 minutes.

01:22It also saves a climb through winding mountain roads.

01:29More than 5,000 vehicles use the tunnel every day, including tourists and locals.

01:41It's a fine spring morning as British trucker John Whitby heads for the toll on the Italian

01:46side.

01:47If you come up through the mountains towards the tunnel entrance, it's very picturesque,

01:51and then there's this little black hole in the side of the mountain.

01:55Prior to this particular day, I'd always been quite happy to go through the tunnels.

02:03Some use the tunnel for pleasure.

02:05Extreme skier Nicholas Borghi is heading from his home in Italy to the ski slopes of France.

02:11That day, the snow conditions were perfect.

02:17It is my passion to ski off-piste.

02:23We packed our ski boots and all our other gear in the car and drove towards the tunnel.

02:31When we got there, we paid our tolls and entered the tunnel as we'd done 1,000 times before.

02:46Usually it takes Borghi 15 minutes to drive through the tunnel.

02:50Today's journey will be different.

03:02Surely it's always dangerous to cross a tunnel, but nothing had ever happened before.

03:14As Borghi and Whitby drive through the tunnel from Italy to France, two independent control

03:20rooms monitor their progress, one on the Italian side and one on the French side.

03:32Until now, it's just another day in the tunnel, a tunnel that has carried more than 45 million

03:40vehicles since it opened in 1965.

03:43A remarkable feat of engineering, it took four years to blast through the solid rock

03:48of the Alps to create one of the longest tunnels in the world and one of the safest.

03:57Eighteen fire shelters are spaced every third of a mile throughout the tunnel.

04:02There are 77 emergency telephones with a dedicated rescue team at the French end and volunteer

04:08rescuers at the Italian end.

04:12Until March 24th, 1999, it's free of major incidents, as the teams have extinguished

04:18all previous truck fires without major casualties.

04:23But this is about to change.

04:2710.46 a.m., a 40-ton refrigerated truck arrives at the toll booth on the French side of the

04:38tunnel, one of the 2,000 that use the tunnel every day.

04:43Behind the wheel is Gilbert de Graaf, a 57-year-old Belgian driver with 25 years' experience.

04:5210.47.

04:54He enters the tunnel and reaches 37 miles per hour.

05:13His refrigerated rig is carrying an everyday load, nine tons of margarine and 12 tons of

05:19flour destined for a food factory in Milan.

05:28Other trucks and cars enter the tunnel behind him, and as always, 40 closed-circuit TV cameras

05:34monitor the progress of all vehicles.

05:3910.49.

05:43De Graaf's truck has been in the tunnel for two minutes, but neither he nor the closed-circuit

05:48TV cameras pick up the first signs of trouble.

05:54White smoke is escaping from behind his cab.

05:58De Graaf's truck is now a mile-and-a-half underground and over a mile into the tunnel.

06:07Unaware of the smoke, he continues his journey.

06:1210.50.

06:15The smoke increases.

06:21De Graaf is nearing the middle of the tunnel.

06:26Nine sensors run the length of the tunnel, feeding visibility information to the control

06:30rooms at both ends.

06:33When visibility is reduced by 30 percent, it triggers an alarm, but the smoke billowing

06:39from de Graaf's truck isn't that dense yet.

06:43At last, de Graaf notices.

06:46I looked at my side mirrors.

06:49I saw some smoke at the right side, but not much, so I drove on normally.

06:5510.51.

06:59De Graaf is more than three miles into the French side, and the situation is now far

07:04from normal.

07:05Oncoming cars and trucks can clearly see smoke from behind the cab.

07:10It passes under the trailer and swirls up toward the roof of the tunnel.

07:15Other drivers realize that something is wrong, and they try to get de Graaf's attention.

07:2110.52.

07:25Now the smoke is dense enough to trigger the tunnel's sensors.

07:30They raise an alarm in the French control room, but not the Italian one.

07:34Due to a false alarm, it was turned off the previous day.

07:39False alarms are not uncommon.

07:41At this stage, only the French tunnel operator hears the alarm, but doesn't know its cause.

07:48Meanwhile, the entrance tolls to the tunnel remain open, and vehicles continue to enter

07:55from both ends.

07:59Finally, Gilbert de Graaf can no longer ignore the smoke.

08:10As I drive, the smoke is increasing.

08:13I put on my hazard lights to warn the people behind and avoid an accident.

08:1910.53.

08:22He brings his truck to a halt.

08:23He is more than three and a half miles in, the halfway point of the Mont Blanc tunnel.

08:28I stopped slowly.

08:29I got out of the truck, and the smoke was much more noticeable.

08:33A line quickly forms behind him.

08:37I tried to grab hold of the extinguisher, but I didn't have time because the whole cabin

08:43was in flames.

08:44Suddenly, it explodes.

08:50De Graaf abandons his truck and runs towards Italy.

08:55Moving towards him, on the other side of the road, is Nicolas Borghi.

09:04I was halfway through the tunnel when I saw a glow far away.

09:10Then when I was 20 meters away, I saw a massive flame, and the truck driver running away.

09:19The line behind de Graaf's truck is growing.

09:2238 men and women are stuck in their vehicles, and none of them can see the danger ahead.

09:30But John Whitby, who is coming from the opposite direction, can.

09:33We looked down the tunnel and couldn't see anything but blackness.

09:38What we didn't know at that point was that the blackness was actually thick smoke.

09:47And that thick smoke is rapidly enveloping the vehicles stuck behind de Graaf's truck.

09:53Within seconds, the road tunnel could turn into a raging inferno.

10:02Seconds from Disaster will continue in a moment.

10:07We now return to Seconds from Disaster.

10:15A truck traveling from France to Italy in the Mont Blanc tunnel stops and bursts into flames.

10:21A line of vehicles comes to a halt behind it.

10:27Alarms trigger in the tunnel's control rooms, but operators don't realize the seriousness of the situation.

10:34They continue to allow vehicles to enter the tunnel from its two entrances in France and Italy.

10:4410.54. The truck has been on fire for one minute.

10:49Someone in the tunnel sees the smoke and uses the emergency phone at Shelter 22, almost 1,000 feet from the truck.

10:57It rings through to the Italian control room.

11:01The operator gets his first direct information that there is a serious problem.

11:06Immediately, the Italian and French controllers contact each other.

11:13Now they can clearly see the smoke on their monitors, but they can't see the truck.

11:19It's engulfed by the smoke.

11:25Realizing the danger, they close the tunnel to new vehicles at both ends.

11:33But for the 25 vehicles and 38 people who have already followed de Graaf's truck into the tunnel, it's too late.

11:41They're either driving towards the truck or they're stuck behind it.

11:5510.56. By now, thick black smoke is moving over the first of the trapped vehicles behind the truck towards France.

12:07But ahead of the flaming truck towards Italy, the smoke is spreading more slowly.

12:12One of the drivers coming from that direction is Nicolaus Borghi.

12:19I myself and the cars behind me were able to reverse till we reached a lay-by where we could do a U-turn and head towards the exit.

12:37In the Italian control room, an operator sees the fleeing vehicles and pumps in fresh air.

12:45But this increased airflow moves through the tunnel towards the fire and France.

12:50When air hits fire, it creates a problem.

13:00Like Borghi, John Whitby is also trying to escape.

13:06He stops a thousand feet from the inferno.

13:16But the tunnel is too narrow for his truck to turn.

13:19He has no choice but to abandon it.

13:22As he does, he looks back on the trapped vehicles.

13:26There must have been a lot of people that just did not stand a chance at all.

13:32It must have been absolutely horrifying for them.

13:36As Whitby makes his escape, the fire is burning fiercely, producing more and more thick black smoke.

13:4510.57.

13:48The fire has been raging for just four minutes, yet the killer smoke has already traveled a third of a mile towards France.

14:00The alarm reaches the tunnel's rescue team stationed at the French entrance, and a four-man team prepares to go in.

14:1010.58.

14:12The wall of smoke from the epicenter of the fire obscures the view of the closed-circuit TV cameras.

14:20And as the French rescue teams enter the tunnel, they don't know that 38 people are stuck in their vehicles behind the truck.

14:33For the drivers, the situation is horrific.

14:37Visibility is reduced to less than two feet.

14:40Panicked, some try to drive away.

14:46But the lack of oxygen kills their engines and their only means of escape.

14:52In desperation, some try to reach shelters, specially designed fireproof rooms located every third of a mile.

15:00But their quest is futile.

15:05It's a living nightmare.

15:12Most of those trapped are unconscious within minutes.

15:21It's now 11 o'clock.

15:28As the scale of the catastrophe grows, firefighters from the French town of Chamonix scramble to enter the tunnel.

15:39But they only travel two and a half miles before their vehicle is swallowed by smoke.

15:48Unable to turn around, they are forced to abandon it and seek shelter in a maintenance room, where they will remain for five hours.

16:02No emergency services manage to reach the center of the blaze.

16:08And now, the first rescuers enter from the Italian side, where the smoke is spreading more slowly.

16:14John Whitby is still by his truck when he sees them.

16:17The wail of sirens came down the tube and they screamed past us down into the darkness ahead.

16:27And they were sort of swallowed up by the smoke, actually.

16:31The Italian volunteer rescuers get within a thousand feet and one patrolman gets within 30 feet of the truck.

16:38But then a new danger forces them all to turn back.

16:41There were six explosions in rapid succession, which were just bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, very quick.

16:48They were very powerful explosions.

16:51Tires from the vehicles explode, sending deadly shrapnel flying.

17:01The tunnel wall shook with the force of the explosion.

17:05Within a minute or two of that happening, the fire brigade were back.

17:13As they retreat, the Italians rescue John Whitby and other drivers.

17:18Among them is Gilbert de Graaf, the driver of the truck that starts the inferno.

17:24They exit the tunnel on the Italian side, all making a miraculous escape.

17:3311-11.

17:40Italian firefighters enter the tunnel to tackle the blaze.

17:53Leading them is fire chief Dionigi Glari.

17:59We could see in the distance a wall of smoke that we tried to penetrate with our vehicle.

18:06But again, the smoke is too thick and Glari and his team are forced to retreat.

18:12They seek shelter in refuge number 24, one of the tunnel's fireproof rooms.

18:17Here, they'll be safe for two hours.

18:20But for these firefighters, the drama is far from over.

18:26They receive word that their colleagues are trapped.

18:29But where?

18:31Bravely, Glari and his team leave the safety of shelter 24 and venture into the smoke to

18:38try to find them.

18:44We were walking in the tunnel with one hand along the walls so as to find our way.

18:55Reaching the next refuge, we entered, looked around and found there was no one there.

19:04The conditions worsen and after ten minutes, the firefighters are forced back to shelter

19:0924.

19:10To their disbelief, the smokeproof room now offers them little protection.

19:20We saw smoke coming from the ventilation vents that should send clean air into the refuge.

19:25With their breathing apparatus running on empty, they are desperately short of air.

19:30Outside, the operation commander devises a plan.

19:33The trapped firefighters are told that beneath the road is a ventilation duct full of fresh

19:38air which may offer a means of escape.

19:41The problem is finding the door without getting lost in the smoke.

19:48To reach this doorway, we had to use an electrical extension lead that we tied to the door of

19:52the refuge and then went to look for the doorway.

19:57At the same time, more Italian firefighters are sent in through the ventilation duct to

20:02try to open the door from below.

20:08The moment they opened that door, that was the moment I glimpsed a possibility of escape.

20:18The rescuers become the rescued.

20:21After three hours, Glari and his team are able to escape through the ventilation duct.

20:30But what they don't know is that 38 people are still trapped inside the tunnel with temperatures

20:37exceeding 1,000 degrees.

20:441130.

20:49Thirty-seven minutes after the truck erupts in flames, the dense, deadly smoke now stretches

20:55for nearly four miles, filling the tunnel all the way to the French exit.

21:11Firefighters abandon all efforts to attack the flames.

21:16No one in the tunnel has a chance of survival.

21:23The fire is so ferocious, it burns for 53 hours.

21:31Only then can firefighters pick their way through the charred debris.

21:37They are horrified to discover the remains of the 38 trapped people.

21:43These pictures reveal the true extent of the tragedy.

21:49Those who survive, like Nicholas Borghi, are astonished at the fire's ferocity.

21:58More shocking is that the heat had melted the steel in the lorries.

22:01You could only see the basis of the lorries, the skeleton.

22:05What could have happened to those poor people left in there?

22:13The disaster takes everyone by surprise.

22:16How could such a catastrophe occur?

22:19How could an ordinary truck carrying an ordinary load of margarine and flour cause one of the

22:25worst tunnel disasters on record?

22:29From the moment the truck enters the tunnel, it takes just 14 minutes for 38 people to

22:34perish.

22:37Now we rewind the events of that fateful day and go deep into the investigation to reveal

22:44what really happened.

22:50Advanced computer simulation will take us where no camera can, into the heart of the

22:56disaster zone.

23:00A team of experts is assembled to investigate the fire.

23:04Using their data, we can piece together the deadly chain of events to find out what caused

23:10this terrible tragedy.

23:14The first mystery facing the experts is what starts the fire in the truck.

23:20They trace the truck's journey on its approach to the tunnel.

23:24This is where problems could first occur.

23:28Trucks frequently overheat on the long climb up to the tunnel entrance.

23:35Investigators examine the remains of the truck.

23:37Is there a fault with the FH-12 engine?

23:43After intensive tests, they find no conclusive evidence of overheating, then a breakthrough.

23:54Investigators find particles inside the engine that could only get there if the air filter

23:59had burned before the main fire.

24:03But how could the air filter have burned first?

24:07One theory is that a casually discarded cigarette from a passing vehicle enters the truck's

24:13air filter on top of the cabin.

24:17The cigarette travels down the filter, which catches fire.

24:23Particles then enter the engine, causing that to catch fire.

24:26Then the blaze starts.

24:28It's a strong possibility.

24:32Investigators then carry out an experiment on a similar truck in similar conditions.

24:38Although not conclusive, it proves that a cigarette butt entering the air filter could

24:43cause a fire.

24:45But that in itself is not enough to cause a tragedy on the scale of the Mont Blanc Tunnel

24:50Fire.

24:51How did this small fire turn into a raging inferno?

24:58Stay tuned.

24:59More Seconds from Disaster in a moment.

25:03And now, back to Seconds from Disaster.

25:10Deep in the Mont Blanc Tunnel, a minor fire suddenly spirals out of control.

25:15In 14 minutes, 38 people perish.

25:22Using advanced computer graphics based on official reports, we go deep into the investigation

25:28to unravel the deadly chain of events.

25:33Investigators believe it starts with a small fire smoldering in the engine beneath the

25:37cab.

25:38Fourteen minutes from disaster, de Groot enters the tunnel.

25:47But the fire only erupts after he stops and abandons his vehicle.

25:53Could the movement of air prevent the fire from taking hold?

25:57Experts know that truck fires can develop more quickly when vehicles slow down or stop

26:02because the supply of oxygen increases, which feeds the fire.

26:07Ed Gallia is a fire expert.

26:09There was a recent example where a bus had caught fire in an alpine tunnel and the bus

26:15driver continued driving, managed to get the vehicle through the tunnel to the other side,

26:21managed to evacuate the vehicle, and then the bus erupted in flames.

26:26Maybe if de Groot had continued driving, he could have made it to the end of the tunnel

26:30before the fire flared up.

26:34But he didn't.

26:38Seven minutes from disaster, he stops halfway through the tunnel.

26:43Almost immediately, the truck bursts into flames.

26:50But why did it spread so quickly?

26:55Beneath the refrigerated trailer, just feet from the flames, are the truck's diesel tanks.

27:02Investigators know that in previous truck fires, diesel is a contributing factor.

27:10Did diesel from de Groot's truck fuel the fire?

27:14De Groot's truck is carrying 145 gallons of diesel.

27:19This tank is only half full, so it can't be the cause of the rapid spread of fire.

27:34Investigators turn their attention to the contents of the refrigerated trailer.

27:38It's carrying nine tons of margarine and 12 tons of flour, a seemingly harmless load that's

27:44not even classified as dangerous goods.

27:48With little else to go on, they begin to experiment with the cargo.

27:57Here, a simple demonstration shows how one ton of margarine simulates the cargo.

28:03It's wrapped in polystyrene sheets, the same insulation material lining the refrigerated trailer.

28:11After just two minutes, it proves to be a highly combustible combination.

28:17In refrigerated vans, you have polyurethane, and when this burns, it produces a lot of heat.

28:26It burns, it can burn very rapidly.

28:28When the margarine melts due to the fire, it's an oil-based material, and it will also

28:34rapidly burn, producing quite a lot of heat.

28:37Margarine has a very high energy content.

28:40When melted, it's almost as dangerous as gasoline.

28:43Our experiment shows how dangerous things can be in the open air.

28:47But experts know that in the confines of tunnels, fires burn much more intensely because

28:52there are limited outlets for the heat to escape.

28:58To find out more, this research facility is conducting large-scale fire tests in an unused

29:04tunnel in Norway.

29:08Simulated trailers with various loads are set on fire to gauge the heat generated by

29:12trucks carrying typical loads like packing crates and furniture.

29:18The result is the world's highest heat release rating ever recorded in a tunnel fire test.

29:25But is margarine even more flammable?

29:27The Montblanc team calculates that the burning load of margarine may have rated even higher.

29:33The intensity of the fire on March 24, 1999, takes everyone by surprise, including Montblanc

29:40tunnel expert Jean Martinetti.

29:43The fire reached between 1,000 and 1,200 degrees.

29:47Nothing could withstand it.

29:49Everything melted, the ground, the concrete, the structure.

29:52It was completely unthinkable, a real crematorium.

30:02Investigators are shocked that a simple cargo of margarine and flour, not classified as

30:07dangerous, could produce a fire almost as powerful as an 8,000-gallon fuel tanker.

30:17But 14 other trucks are stuck in a half-mile line behind the first burning truck.

30:23Could these have contributed to the fire?

30:29The combined firepower of these trucks burning together takes the inferno to an unimaginable

30:34level of horror for the 38 trapped people in the tunnel.

30:39The vehicles that were involved in the fire had the energy content equivalent of about

30:44five to seven petrel tankers full of fuel.

30:51But for these vehicles to contribute to the inferno, the fire first had to spread to them.

30:57How did that happen?

30:59Three explanations emerge.

31:01First, the burning truck radiates heat and generates hot gases.

31:06In the confines of a tunnel, vehicles a great distance from the fire can ignite.

31:15Another way is that the vehicle that's on fire is leaking fuel, and it runs along the

31:20length of the tunnel.

31:23Yet another way is if the fire is very intense, your road surface itself catches fire, and

31:30then that will ignite the other vehicles in the tunnel.

31:38Investigators are not able to prove which of the three methods causes the fire to spread,

31:43but they do make another discovery.

31:46Fire is not the real killer.

31:50We found out later that people died in the cars before they could even open the doors

31:58and get out.

32:03So if fire isn't the killer, what is?

32:08We'll return with more Seconds from Disaster after this.

32:12You're watching Seconds from Disaster.

32:20A smoldering truck enters the Mont Blanc tunnel.

32:28The driver stops, and suddenly his truck explodes into flames.

32:40Investigators know that the driver manages to escape the inferno by running towards Italy.

32:46But 38 motorists behind his truck, back towards France, perish.

32:51Why?

33:01Investigators focus on the smoke given off by the fire.

33:04Without realizing it, John Whitby is a witness to this deadly wall of smoke.

33:09All we could see ahead was blackness about 200 meters from where we were stopped.

33:16It was just completely dark.

33:19We presumed that it was just lack of lighting, but it actually turned out to be the smoke

33:25from the fire.

33:27Seven minutes from disaster.

33:30Data gathered from sensors in the tunnel reveal that, in these minutes, smoke travels half

33:35a mile over the 25 gridlocked vehicles.

33:38The smoke travels 15 feet per second, nearly 10 miles per hour, creating a sudden loss

33:44of visibility down to a foot and a half.

33:48The trapped drivers have only seconds to decide whether to try to reach the safety of a shelter

33:53or remain in their vehicles.

33:55People probably believe that they're safe in their vehicle, that the smoke is not going

34:00to be too much of a problem, that the fire will be brought under control and they might

34:04as well stay in their car.

34:12Four minutes left.

34:15In the middle of the smoke, four cars do attempt to turn around.

34:22The tunnel is wide enough, so why don't they make it?

34:28Experts know that car engines need oxygen to work.

34:35The fire is consuming the oxygen and replacing it with carbon monoxide.

34:40Starved of oxygen, the vehicles' engines sputter and die.

34:45There's no way out.

34:47The fate for those who abandon their vehicles is equally bleak.

34:51They are overcome by smoke and other toxic gases before they reach the safe areas.

35:02Analysis of the scene reveals that the smoke contains cyanide, a gas that no one can survive.

35:11The smoke fills the French half of the tunnel so rapidly that none of the 38 trapped people

35:17stands a chance.

35:20Even the fittest individual couldn't outrun it.

35:28Fourteen minutes after the truck enters the tunnel, everyone behind the truck has perished.

35:47Investigators now turn their attention to the deadly smoke and why it moves towards

35:52France.

35:53Normally, air in the tunnel flows the other way, towards Italy.

36:03The tunnel operators can dramatically affect the airflow using the tunnel's ventilation

36:07system.

36:10Gigantic fans in plant rooms at both ends enable the operators to supply or extract

36:16air through ducts running beneath the road.

36:20The tunnel operation requires ducts to supply air, but in the event of fire, duct 5 is supposed

36:25to be set to remove the smoke.

36:29Did operators carry out the correct emergency procedure?

36:32Jean Martinetti has studied the official reports and knows the tunnel inside out.

36:37He is shocked by what he learns.

36:39When the fire occurred, on the Italian side, according to the reports, the Italian operator

36:45blew fresh air in instead of extracting it.

36:56The Italian tunnel operator sees motorists attempting to turn around.

37:02To aid their escape, he adjusts the ventilation settings and pumps in fresh air.

37:09The disruption of normal airflow plays a major role in the disaster, although the air blow

37:15in from Italy undoubtedly saves some lives, including John Whitby's.

37:28I realized how lucky I was.

37:3390% of the time, the smoke would have come the other way, to Italy, and I wouldn't be here now.

37:41But the air being pumped in from Italy moves the smoke towards France at a terrifying speed.

37:48After enveloping the vehicles trapped behind the burning truck, the smoke accelerates,

37:53now moving at 20 feet per second.

37:57On the French side, the whole French half of the tunnel was filled with smoke in little

38:02over half an hour.

38:09Catching the fire from either end of the tunnel is impossible, and all rescue attempts are

38:15called off.

38:25But a startling discovery is about to be made.

38:32Stay tuned, the conclusion in a moment.

38:37And now the conclusion of Seconds from Disaster.

38:43A fire in the Mont Blanc tunnel between France and Italy becomes one of the worst tunnel

38:48fires on record.

38:50A critical chain of events causes the disaster.

38:57And now investigators discover the final link.

39:02Throughout the entire rescue, none of the emergency teams or tunnel operators is aware

39:07of the 38 trapped motorists.

39:10The closed-circuit TV cameras are so quickly blocked by the smoke that it's impossible

39:15for the tunnel operators to see them.

39:19Emergency telephones only work intermittently, and sensors that detect smoke aren't adequate.

39:25In fact, one is even turned off the day before the fire.

39:30Worse still, there is no communication between the French and Italian rescuers.

39:35Italian firefighters become trapped.

39:38It is a totally uncoordinated effort.

39:41Tackling a fire of this severity seems to take everyone by surprise.

39:46A lack of fire drills might explain why it's more than three hours after the fire begins

39:51that the last of the trapped Italian firefighters are brought out through the underground ventilation

39:56ducts.

39:57They were absolutely black.

40:01You couldn't see the color of the helmets or the uniforms.

40:04You couldn't see the color of the fire engines.

40:07Everything that came out of that tunnel was black.

40:11It was a horrible, horrible sight, really.

40:15The inferno rages for 53 hours before it's extinguished.

40:27I really hope that something is done to improve the safety of these tunnels.

40:34The disaster triggered an overhaul of safety procedures in the Mont Blanc tunnel.

40:40Today, maximum speed limits and minimum distances between vehicles are strictly enforced.

40:50Seventeen previous fires in the tunnel were caused by trucks, but now sophisticated thermal

40:55sensors at each entrance scan all trucks to detect dangerous heat emissions before

41:01they enter the tunnel.

41:08The tunnel operators have gone a long way to correct the mistakes.

41:14They stage regular fire and evacuation drills.

41:23The shelters are now pressurized and equipped with a video link to the control room.

41:35Staircases now connect them directly to evacuation tunnels below the road.

41:45There is now a firefighting team permanently based in the center of the tunnel.

41:52And fire trucks are equipped with heat-seeking systems so they can locate people in zero

41:58visibility.

42:04March 24, 1999 provided clues that may save lives in the future, but it's small consolation

42:10for relatives of the people who died in the tunnel, including one firefighter who died

42:16from his injuries later.

42:22Xavier Chantelot will never be the same.

42:29I lost my mother-in-law, her daughter, my wife's sister, and also her fiancée.

42:37They'd all been staying with us on holiday.

42:42For relatives of the victims, like Xavier, there are still many unanswered questions

42:47regarding the final moments of loved ones lost inside the tunnel.

42:55We still do not know for sure how they died.

42:58I'm sure I don't need to describe the horrific images I have in my head.

43:03People running about on fire or collapsing, trying to get out.

43:08You think of everything.

43:12The Mont Blanc Tunnel fire and its critical chain of events reveals the dangers of deep

43:17road tunnels.

43:21On that day, a large white truck enters the tunnel.

43:26A small fire under the cab gives off a stream of white smoke.

43:31The truck stops.

43:33More air reaches the fire, causing it to erupt.

43:40The ordinary cargo of margarine turns deadly, creating a fire with the same potential as

43:46an 8,000-gallon fuel taker.

43:55Unusual weather conditions and incorrect use of the tunnel's ventilation system creates

44:00a wall of smoke that quickly envelops 38 trapped motorists.

44:05They have no chance of survival.

44:08But was this critical chain of events unique?

44:15I think there will be another fire in the Mont Blanc Tunnel tomorrow, in six months,

44:21a year.

44:22But the emergency services are better adapted today than they were at the time of the disaster.

44:29But there will be another fire.

44:36Is another Mont Blanc disaster possible somewhere in the world?

44:39Yes, it is.

44:41And it's perhaps only a matter of time.

44:47But until it happens, millions of vehicles will continue to travel through road tunnels

44:53every day.

45:06This is the National Geographic Channel.

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