VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- A truck loaded with paint crashed into the back of a car deep inside a tunnel in western Austria early Saturday, setting off a chain reaction of explosions and a massive blaze that killed at least one person and injured dozens, officials said.
Firefighters, who were initially unable to get at the fire because of the intense heat and thick black smoke, feared the death toll in the north-south Tauern tunnel would rise. It was the second deadly Alpine tunnel fire in just over two months.At least 100 people were treated in hospitals, three of them in critical condition. About 40 to 50 others escaped without injury.
Firefighters declared the blaze out late Saturday, more than 12 hours after it had erupted, state-run Austrian television reported. The tunnel, 40 miles south of Salzburg, is on a road that carries traffic from Germany to Italy and the Balkans.
The crash that set off the fire occurred about 875 yards from the northern entrance to the tunnel when a car stopped at a red light set up near a construction site and was rear-ended by the paint truck.