Ski Lifts Reopen After Austria’s Cable Car Fire
Lifts on Kitzsteinhorn glacier reopened to skiers Thursday, nearly one month after a deadly fire in a cable car tunnel killed 155 people.
The gondola lift began carrying skiers from the village of Kaprun to the glacier at 8 a.m., the Austria Press Agency reported.
The lift service was stopped after a fire broke out Nov. 11 in a cable car heading up a tunnel through the mountainside, killing 155 people from Austria, Germany, the United States, Japan, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Britain and the Czech Republic.
Officials in Kaprun waited for the bodies of the victims to be identified before reopening the lifts, which also operate from the cable car station and offer an alternative means of reaching the glacier. The fire caused extensive damage to waterlines and power cables in the scorched tunnel that had to be repaired.
Extra safety measures also were taken before the lifts resumed service, the news agency said. Investigations are continuing to try to establish the cause of the fire.
The inferno on the cable car leading up to the glacier on Kitzsteinhorn mountain was Austria’s worst peacetime disaster.
Kaprun, which depends on tourism, is estimated to have lost $2.6 million from closing down the ski area for four weeks.
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