Swiss tunnel death toll uncertain

Airolo - Forensic teams began their work in Switzerland's Gotthard yesterday as confusion emerged over the precise death toll…

Airolo - Forensic teams began their work in Switzerland's Gotthard yesterday as confusion emerged over the precise death toll from last week's fire, writes Derek Scally.

Investigators have revised down to 10 the number of confirmed dead and say they are unsure whether the driver who was killed when his truck collided with another in the tunnel is among the confirmed dead. "We hope there will be no more (dead) but we need to check under the wreckage of the cars," said Mr Giovanni Dado, a police spokesman for the Ticino canton.

A newspaper identified the driver yesterday as a 45-year-old Turkish national living in Belgium. The report said the man was living with his older brother and working as a truck driver for a Belgian firm for the last two months. Rescue work yesterday was slowed down by concerns that there could still be pockets of poisonous gas around the accident scene which could endanger rescue crews.