The fire occurred inside a 3.2-km tunnel through the 3,203-meter Mount Kitzsteinhorn on Nov. 11, 2000. The victims included 92 Austrians, 37 Germans, 10 Japanese, eight Americans, four Slovenians, two Dutch, one Briton and one Czech.

Only 12 of those in the cable car escaped the blaze, the worst accident in Austria since the end of World War II.

Judge Manfred Seiss said in handing down the ruling that the accident was unforeseeable and therefore it was impossible to find the defendants responsible as individuals.

The prosecution had argued the disaster happened because of a series of errors or miscalculations, including the illegal installation of a heating unit in the cable car.

The Japan Times Weekly: Feb. 28, 2004
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