Bonneville, France – A French court convicted 13 defendants of manslaughter Wednesday in connection with the 1999 Mont Blanc tunnel fire and ordered a six-month jail term for the head of security at the Alpine passage where 39 people died.
Of the 13 defendants, the court convicted 10 people, handing out an array of fines and suspended prison sentences, and slapped three companies with fines for their role in the fire.
Two other individuals and the carmaker Volvo were acquitted on manslaughter charges.
The six-month trial followed a 4 1/2-year investigation into the March 24, 1999, inferno, which was sparked by a Volvo truck that had caught fire.
The blaze burned for two days while firefighters tried to reach victims and vehicles trapped inside the tunnel under Western Europe’s highest peak.
Families of the victims said they were satisfied with the sentencing, which for many defendants was heavier than what the prosecutor requested.
Those standing trial were mainly individuals and companies that oversaw the tunnel and its security. They faced questions about a shortage of security equipment, the lack of security preparedness exercises before the fire and a mishap with the ventilation system that appeared to fan the fire rather than put it out.
