Kaprun disaster



On 11 November 2000, a fire in the tunnel of Gletscherbahn Kaprun 2 funicular in Kaprun, Austria, killed 155 people. The cause was traced to a faulty fan heater. Most of the victims were skiers on their way to the Kitzsteinhorn Glacier. To date, this incident remains the deadliest rail disaster in Austrian history.

Train
The Gletscherbahn Kaprun 2 funicular railway opened in 1974 and ran from Kaprun to the Kitzsteinhorn and was modernized in 1993. It had an unusual track gauge of, and a length of 3900 m, 3300 m of which was inside a tunnel. The train ascended and descended the 30 degree slope at 25 km/h. Two trains ran simultaneously on a single track, with a section halfway allowing them to pass each other. The tunnel terminated at the main reception centre, the Alpincenter, where a motorized winch drove the trains. It was a low-voltage electrical system, with 160-litre hydraulic tanks on board for the brakes and doors, and a conductor. Each train had four passenger compartments giving a total capacity of 180 passengers, and a conductor's cab at each end; the conductor switched end as the train travelled up and down.

Fire
On 11 November 2000 shortly after 9:00 am, 161 passengers and one conductor boarded the funicular train for the slopes. The train unexpectedly halted 600 m into the tunnel. Some minutes later the conductor reported a fire to the control centre, and failed in an attempt to open the hydraulically operated doors. The conductor then lost contact with the control centre because the fire had burned through a 16kV power cable running alongside the track, causing a power blackout throughout the ski resort.

The passengers attempted to break the shatter-resistant acrylic windows. Twelve people from the rear of the train broke a window with a ski pole and, advised by an escapee who had been a volunteer fire fighter, escaped downwards past the fire and below the smoke.

Many of the trapped occupants lost consciousness due to toxic fumes. Eventually the conductor managed to unlock the doors, allowing them to be manually forced open. The conscious passengers fled up the tunnel away from the fire. The tunnel acted as blast furnace, sucking oxygen in from below and sending poisonous fumes, heat and the fire itself upwards. The conductor and all the passengers ascending on foot died by asphyxiation and were burned.

The conductor and the sole passenger on the second train, which was descending in the same tunnel above the burning train, also died of smoke inhalation. The smoke rose into the Alpincenter 2500 m above. Two fleeing workers in the Alpincenter alerted employees and customers and escaped via an emergency exit. They left the exit doors open, which contributed to the chimney effect. All except four people escaped the centre as it filled with smoke. Firefighters reached the centre and revived one of the four; the other three were asphyxiated.

Investigation
The official inquiry determined that the cause was the failure, overheating and ignition of a fan heater in the conductor's compartments which was not designed for use in a moving vehicle. A design fault caused the unit to overheat, in turn causing the mount for the heating element to break off. The element jammed against its casing and caught fire. A slow leak of flammable hydraulic fluid was ignited which melted the fluid lines, further feeding the flames. The loss of hydraulic pressure applied the brakes (which are kept open by hydraulic pressure) and disabled the hydraulically operated doors.

The structural flaws of the funicular trains, especially the lack of safety mechanisms, were found to have played a role. Fire extinguishers in each funicular unit were in the sealed attendants' compartments out of the passengers' reach. There were no smoke detectors. There was no cellphone reception within the tunnels, meaning passengers had no way to contact the attendant. Funicular expert Professor Joseph Nejez said the designers had a perception that fire could not occur in a funicular cabin because no fire had occurred previously. The train complied with area safety codes, which did not address the systems installed on the train during its 1993 upgrade. The onboard electric power, hydraulic braking systems, and fan heaters intended for domestic use increased the likelihood of fire.

Casualties and aftermath
In addition to those who escaped from the Alpincenter and the person whom firefighters revived, 10 Germans and two Austrians escaped from the burning train by descending past the fire.

19-year-old German freestyle skier Sandra Schmitt was one of the victims, at the time the reigning Women's Dual Moguls World Champion. Josef Schaupper, a seven-time Deaflympic medalist, was killed along with his fellow deaf skiers.

The funicular was not reopened and was replaced by a gondola lift, a 24-person Gletscherjet 1 funitel. The stations were abandoned and the tunnel sealed. The track remained in place for over a decade until it and the supporting structure below the tunnel were removed in 2014, leaving just a gap in the trees where it had been.

On 19 February 2004, Judge Manfred Seiss acquitted all 16 suspects, including company officials, technicians, and government inspectors, saying there was insufficient evidence to find them guilty of criminal negligence. In September 2007, the public prosecutor found the manufacturer of the electric heater was not responsible.

Memorial
On 11 November 2004, coinciding with the fourth anniversary of the disaster, a memorial was inaugurated. It features a stone structure with 155 glass columns, each representing one of the victims who perished in the incident.