|
Official
conclusion
September
6th, 2001 |
|
|
On
September the 6th 2001 was annonced the official result
of the investigations on the accident of Kaprun. The
experts believe that the fire was initiated by an electric
heating ventilator. It was illegally installed in the
drivers cabin and only worked in the stations. On the
day of the accident the ventilator didnt work
any more, and the apparatus overheated. This must have
happened already in the lower station, because only
there the heater is supplied with energy. Because of
a leak in a tube hydraulic oil came on the glowing heater,
nearby wooden panels and isolation materials were already
soaked with oil. In the station or on the way up they
caught fire.
In my interview on
BBC News Sunday 12th November 2000 I already spoke about
the possibility of a problem on the heaters... |
|
No
conclusion before the next summer
April
2001 |
|
|
The
official conclusion will not be published before the
next summer.
However brake or bearing defects are now excluded.
The
fire was most likely to the installation of a wooden
cladding near the ventilator of the heating engine.
This cladding might have caught fire.....It
is said, that this cladding wasn´t criticized
during the yearly technical examinations.
The examinations of the Kaprun wreck are nearly ready.
They found out, that the train was stopped automatically
minutes before the fire due to a oil-leakage. All doors
were opened. Most of the 152 victims could leave the
train but the fire blocked the way down.
Most people died within 70m reach of the train. One
Japanese could
escape 150m before he died. |
|
The
second cabin extracted
Mach
2001 |
|
|
The
second cabin, black as soot, was extrated from the tunnel. |
Photo
ap
|
|
The
wreck transported to Linz
March
1st
2001 |
|
|
In
the afternoon the burnt carriage was divided in two
parts and transported to Linz.
The second carriage, still inside the upper part of
the tunnel, will be extracted from the top (Alpine Center)
next week. |
Photo
ap
|
|
The
wreck winched down
February 28th 2001 |
|
|
|
Kaprun
4:40 pm
The burnt carriage has been winched down to the bottom
station. The wreck was covered by a white tarpaulin
as a shroud. It has been already examined in inclined
position at the station. Then the carriage has been
divided in two parts and put on flat truck. The wreck
will be transported to Linz to be stored in the hall
which has been reserved for the analyse. |
|
|
A hall for the wreck
February 7th 2001 |
The
wreck will be transported to Linz (Oberösterreich) and
stored in an hall of VÖEST-Schwertrans to be analysed.
All the analyse will be filmed. |
ÖBB should start its job
January 29th 2001 |
On
January 29th 2001 ÖBB, the Austrian Railways, should
start to fetch the cabin down from the tunnel. This work should
take around 3 or 4 weeks. |
ÖBB will fetch the wreck
December 29th 2000 |
The
ÖBB, the Austrian Railways, got the order by the court to
save the wreck of the destroyed cabin. This will cost about
6-7 million ATS and will need about 2-3 weeks. To save all
possible circumstantial evidences the cabin and a part of
the track must be brought down as a whole. This means an enourmous
expenditure because of the weight (16 tons) and the narrow
tunnel. Until the start of the work the tunnel will be controlled
electronically. During the work there will be a video control.
The rails must be cut before and after the wreck.
The cause of accident could be determined then in March 2001.
|
Reopening of the ski lifts
December 7th 2000 |
Since
December 7th, the cable cars and ski lifts at the Kitzsteinhorn
are operating again.
Of course the funicular Gletscherbahn Kaprun 2 is still out
of order. |
What is the status of the investigation?
November 27th 2000 |
The
origin of the fire is still unknown.
The liquid found on the track is not the cause of the fire.
The main hypothesis is still a short-circuit in the dashboard
of the bottom control compartment of the carriage.
The carriage was made of glass fibre-reinforced of plastic
with aluminium arches between the compartments (see the photo
of the burnt carriage). The windows was made of plexiglass
(like in the 1993's carriages).
The carriage must be take down to the bottom station to understand
the origin of the fire but it seems that the wheels of the
carriage are welded to the rails! |
Interview of Manfred Müller (technical director of the "Kapruner
Gletscherbahn") in the Stuttgarter Nachrichten
November 14th 2000 |
What
happened in the Kaprun tunnel?
There were the words of the engineer: "We have a switch-off"
This meant the break in electricity supply. He told it via
train-phone to the engineer in the top-station who died by
a smoke-intoxication afterwards.
How do you know this? Are the phone calls recorded?
No, a worker heard the call and told it immediatly the operating-director.
The director wanted to reverse the train (out of the tunnel).
But at this time the doors obviously have been already opened
and most of the passengers outside the cabin. They would have
been endangered by the downhill running train.
How can start a fire in the train theoretically?
We don't know. I canīt imagine, that it was the fault of the
electric installation. In the train we have only 24 Volt wiring,
which are in very safe condition (?). In the rear part of
the train, where the fire started, only a part of the signalling
equipment was installed.
How the fire caused the switch-off?
We donīt know that too. The survivours told, that for a while
the light still was on after the train stopped.
Waiting persons in the bottom station report a big bang.
Yes, a cable loosened, because it became too hot. But the
5cm thick pulling-cable is still in stable condition, although
it was totally smothered.
Why was not there any fire extinguishers?
There are extinguishers in both engineerīs room in the bottom
and in the top stations. (not in the cabins of the funicular
!?)
Why not in the train and in the tunnel?
Thatīs no "must" by legislation an it was therefore not planned.
|
|