Nineteen workers were rescued after being trapped in a blaze in a motorway tunnel under construction near Paris, firefighters said today.
The fire began about a mile from the entrance of the tunnel west of Paris late yesterday, spewing smoke that trapped the workers inside for around four hours.
The blaze comes on the day France agreed to reopen to cars the Mont Blanc Alpine tunnel link to Italy, which has been closed since a fire in March 1999 killed 39.
A fire service spokesman at the scene said firefighters were evacuating the workers, who were all safe after huddling inside a tunneling machine for safety, early this morning.
"The 19 workers are safe. Firefighters are with them inside the tunnel and we are evacuating them gradually," the spokesman said. "They will be out very soon."
The fire, now under control, appeared to have started when the motor of a train carrying construction materials into the tunnel on the A86 motorway in the Hauts-de-Seine region near Versailles exploded, he said.
The workers had survived three hours inside the tunnel by taking refuge inside the tunneller machine, where they found a pocket of air, he said.
"It's a big machine. They took the wise precaution of getting inside and staying in the tunnel rather than trying to escape through the smoke," the spokesman said.
Rescue workers were waiting to treat the workers as they emerged but the fire spokesman said they all seemed to be in good health.
Two firefighters suffered from smoke inhalation. One was in a serious condition and the other slightly injured.