Three die in Austrian tunnel crash

Three people were killed in a crash in a motorway tunnel in western Austria today, the second fatal tunnel accident this week…

Three people were killed in a crash in a motorway tunnel in western Austria today, the second fatal tunnel accident this week, police said.

A small truck collided with an Austrian tourist bus in the 3.5 kilometre long Amberg tunnel on the A-14 motorway, some 30 kilometres south of Bregenz.

Two cars and a motorcycle were also involved and several people suffered serious injuries. The dead and injured were believed to be Austrians.

The accident did not cause a fire, in contrast to a collision in the Gleinalm tunnel in southern Austria on Monday in which five Dutch holidaymakers - a couple and three children - were killed.

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A series of accidents in recent years has prompted concern about the safety of Austrian road tunnels, many of which - including the Amberg and Gleinalm tunnels - are single-carriageway.

More than 165 people have been killed in a spate of disasters in Austrian tunnels over the last two years.

Last November 155 people were killed after a fire broke out in a ski train climbing through a steep tunnel at the Kaprun resort.

In May 1999, 12 people were killed and 50 injured in the last major Austrian motorway tunnel blaze, after a truck ploughed into a column of vehicles in the Tauern tunnel.