Last Remains Retrieved From Alpine Wreck

With the remains of the last of 155 victims removed from an Alpine tunnel here, investigators shifted their efforts Wednesday to finding out what caused a cable car jammed with skiers and snowboarders to burst into flames.

The last of those killed in Saturday’s fire were cut away from the melted wreckage and brought out in the afternoon. Army helicopters flew the remains to a forensic institute in Salzburg for DNA testing. Identifying the charred remains is expected to take three to four weeks.

Investigators have focused on whether a technical malfunction caused the worst disaster to hit Austria’s multimillion-dollar skiing industry. Ten police experts worked in the mountain tunnel, gathering evidence that could shed light on the accident’s cause.

They declined to say how long it might take to analyze an oily substance found on the rails of the ramp leading into the tunnel. Forensic investigators and eyewitnesses have suggested that the cable car may have been experiencing some sort of technical problem before it even entered the tunnel.

Those missing and presumed dead include eight Americans. Also believed killed were 92 Austrians, 37 Germans, 10 Japanese, four Slovenes, two Dutch, a Briton and a Czech.