Berlin - Switzerland mourned the victims of last week's Gotthard Tunnel fire yesterday, with an exact death toll likely to emerge today when rescue crews resume their work, Derek Scally reports
The Archbishop of Lugano, Giuseppe Torti, called for "unity in the face of pain" at a service in Airolo, attended by nearly 400 people including rescue workers who will reach the last 50 metres of the so-called "red-zone" today.
It was here that two trucks collided on Wednesday, sparking a fire with temperatures reaching over 1,000 degrees. It caused the roof of the tunnel to collapse, burying an estimated 12 vehicles and any further victims. Some 44 people were still officially missing yesterday evening, the number having dropped sharply over the weekend after Swiss police called relatives of the missing.