Tunnel Reopens After Deadly ’99 Fire

The Mont Blanc tunnel linking France and Italy reopened to car traffic Saturday, three years after a fire killed 39 people, but protesters vowed to do all they could to block heavy-goods vehicles from using it again.

An explosion overnight wrecked a parked car on the French side of the tunnel but caused no other damage. The tunnel is a key trade link, but many residents and ecologists see it as a source of danger and pollution.

Under heavy police surveillance, the first cars passed through the tunnel just before 1 p.m. after a wreath-laying ceremony for the 39 victims of the blaze that engulfed the link in March 1999, forcing its closure.

The first motorist through the 7-mile-long tunnel under Western Europe’s highest mountain was a Greek man in a British-registered car heading south to Corfu.

About 1,000 protesters demonstrated on the French side against a return of the thousands of trucks a day whose exhaust gases they say were ruining the area before the accident.

“When trucks start to come back, we won’t be on the side of the road anymore--we’ll be in it,” said Jean-Paul Trichet of the Assn. for the Respect of the Mont Blanc Site.

Dozens of protesters demonstrated outside the mouth of the tunnel in the Italian town of Courmayeur.

Italy says the disruption to distribution routes caused by the closure cost its economy $2.3 billion. European Commission President Romano Prodi, an Italian, welcomed the reopening.

The reopening of the 37-year-old link was not just good news for business.

“It’s great for us visiting Italy,” said Brigitte Pirrone, who came from southern France with her husband, Guy, for the opening. “We nearly used the tunnel the day of the accident. The only reason we didn’t was because it was a nice day and my son wanted to go skiing.”

Others were not so lucky.

Pasquali D’Amelio, standing by a monument to victims on the French side, lost his 24-year-old son.

“This is a difficult day for me, but I’ve had lots of difficult days since then,” he said, accusing authorities of not doing enough to ensure that such an accident won’t happen again.

The blaze began when a Belgian truck carrying flour and margarine caught fire.

An official report made 41 recommendations to improve safety.