Most of the victims apparently managed to escape the burning car but were killed by acrid smoke as they tried to flee by running upward on narrow stairs leading out of the tunnel, said Manfred Mueller, the head of cable car technical operations. The few survivors among the 180 people on board apparently ran the opposite way, evading most of the smoke being blown upward by strong drafts pushing through the tunnel.
Today is a day of mourning.
Rescuers were unable to reach the car as the fire raged for hours, sending smoke spewing from the mouth of the tunnel below. The blaze burned the car down to the chassis, firefighters said. An area hospital said 18 Germans and Austrians were brought in by ambulance - apparently nine who escaped from the car and nine more who were waiting just inside the tunnel entrance to board the next car going up, hospital officials said. All suffered cuts, bruises and the effects of smoke inhalation. Two were in critical condition, while three had left the hospital by evening.