Austrian prosecutors have launched an investigation into the manufacturer of a heater which a judge said sparked a ski train blaze that killed 155 tourists in November 2000, a state prosecution spokesman said today.
Last week, an Austrian court cleared 16 resort workers, safety inspectors, train operators and their suppliers of negligence charges in Austria's deadliest peacetime disaster.
Only 12 people survived the accident at the Alpine ski resort of Kaprun when fire raced through a funicular train, bringing its two crowded carriages to a halt in a tunnel. The 155 dead included German, Japanese and US tourists as well as Austrians.
Judge Manfred Seiss said in his judgement a manufacturing fault in a heater made it catch fire, sparking the deadly blaze. But no employees of Fakir, the German company that made the heater, were charged in that case.
Salzburg state prosecution spokesman Mr Thomas Wegleiter said the train's operator, Gletscherbahnen AG, requested the investigation before the verdict was given.
"Gletscherbahnen AG reported Fakir in January for alleged faults in the heater," Mr Wegleiter said.
The operator accused Fakir of negligently causing the blaze and of presenting false evidence to the court during the trial, he added.
Fakir was not immediately available for comment.