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Survivor tells of blaze horror

A survivor of the inferno that killed more than 150 people on a cable train in the Austrian Alps has told of his horror as the blaze engulfed the carriage he was in.

The German survivor said from his hospital bed: "There was pure panic. There were terrible scenes in the cabin I was in as it suddenly filled with smoke.

"People trapped in the carriage were crying and screaming as they desperately tried to find a way out.

  AUDIO
Smoke

"Go downwards, Go downwards!"
A hero triumphs over terror.

0.97 MB / 93 seconds
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"They were trying to prise open the closed doors and smash the windows.

"My only thought was to get out, and I only managed to save myself in the last few seconds because a window was kicked in and I was able to fight my way outside."

Victims 'wore flammable ski clothes'

British skier Jason Hughes told the UK's Mail on Sunday newspaper that he had taken a cable car up the mountain rather than the funicular rail.

He said: "It is pretty dark and you cannot see out of the windows on the funicular.

"I can't think what would have caught fire. The train is mostly made of metal on the inside but I suppose people were all wearing ski jackets which could have been flammable."

His friend Harminder Sehmi said: "My wife saw a cable come loose and go crashing through the trees.

"We heard a couple of bangs and saw smoke coming out of the tunnel."

Franz Schausberger, governor of Salzburg province, said: "Only those who managed to save themselves survived.

"There was no chance of (rescue workers) helping anyone."

He said the majority of those who died in the blaze were "undoubtedly young people."

Austria's public security chief Erik Buxbaum said it was possible the fire had started before the funicular car entered the tunnel in the Kitzsteinhorn mountain.

He said: "We have received information that the light of a fire was already visible to outside witnesses as the train was entering the tunnel."

When the driver noticed the blaze it was already too late, Buxbaum added.



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