Mont Blanc Security Chief Sentenced to Jail for Tunnel FireA court in the French Alpine town of Bonneville found 13 of the 16 defendants guilty on 27th July, 2005 in connection with the March 1999 Mont Blanc tunnel fire that killed 39 people. The heaviest sentence went to Gerard Roncoli, the French head of security at the tunnel, who was given a six-month jail term with an additional 24 months suspended sentence, but the punishment went beyond the demands of the prosecution, which sought a three-year suspended jail sentence and fines of EUR12,000. The court informed on 4th August that Roncoli appealed the verdict. Remy Chardon, former president of ATMB, the French tunnel operator, was given a two-year suspended jail term and a fine of EUR15,000. The court ordered a four-month suspended sentence for Gilbert Degrave, the Belgian driver of the truck. Six other people (4 French and 2 Italians) were given suspended terms and fines. Three companies - ATMB, the Italian concessionaire SITMB, and the tunnel operating firm SGTMB - received fines of EUR100,000, EUR150,000 and EUR50,000 respectively. In its verdict, the court dropped charges against two individuals and Volvo Truck Corporation, saying that the fire was not caused by faulty design in its FH12 trucks.The verdict follows a three-month trial. Defendants faced questions about a shortage of security equipment, the lack of security preparedness exercises before the fire and a malfunction in the ventilation system that appeared to fan the fire rather than put it out. The spread and severity of the blaze were blamed on a series of safety blunders and procedural neglect, while failures of coordination by French and Italian authorities in responding to the situation were alleged to have aggravated the catastrophe and caused many deaths. The 11.6 km tunnel, which opened in 1965, connects France and Italy but was closed for more than three years for rebuilding and the installation of improved safety features. The fire, which took 53 hours to control, broke out in a lorry loaded with margarine and flour. Click here. Subscribe to E-News Weekly 18/2005. Visit www.catastrophe-tunnel-montblanc.com 33-34/05.