Paris - A decision by Italian officials to open a ventilation shaft when a fire broke out last month in the Mont Blanc tunnel linking France and Italy might have fanned the inferno, in which at least 41 people died, a preliminary report said yesterday.
"The fact that fresh air was introduced into the zone where the fire was developing, instead of extracting the smoke, is undoubtedly an important element that needs to be taken into account in analysing the swift flare-up of the blaze," the report said. The worst road-tunnel blaze ever recorded happened on March 24th.