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18 January 2008 in Austria
In a mass pile-up in the Ofenauer tunnel on the A 10 Tauern motorway, three people were seriously injured and 14 slightly. Three lorries and 15 cars, including a police car, became entangled. According to first information, the accident was caused by extreme ice on the road surface near the tunnel exit.

29 November 2007 in Austria
In the Großliedl tunnel on the south motorway near Bad St. Leonhard, a lorry rammed a car from behind, sending it crashing into the tunnel wall. The 35-year old female driver of the completely demolished car was injured.

3 November 2007 in Belgium
In the Waasland tunnel in Antwerp, two cars collided head-on. Another two cars crashed into the accident site. Two people were seriously injured and one person sustained slight injuries.

12 October 2007 in the US
In a tunnel on Interstate 5, the main link between Los Angeles and San Francisco, in rainy conditions, two lorries collided on the wet surface and triggered a chain reaction. Another 13 lorries crashed into the accident site and caught fire. Flames shot 20 metres out of the portals, explosions were still to be heard hours after the accident took place. The enormous heat caused concrete to melt and fall onto the road, the fire brigade feared that parts of the tunnel would collapse. 20 people were able to escape the burning inferno on foot, ten of them were injured but only slightly.

18 September 2007 in Austria
Motorists had a close shave in a mass pile-up in the Ehrentalerberg tunnel on the A 2 (south motorway) near Klagenfurt involving a total of 14 cars and lorries. This accident was probably triggered when two lorries driving parallel came into contact with each other. Despite the "huge tangle of metal", to quote a witness, nobody was injured.

10 September 2007 in Italy
In the San Martino tunnel on the SS 36 near Lecco, a lorry crashed into the tunnel wall and caught fire. This triggered a mass pile-up. It took rescue services 45 minutes to arrive at the scene of the accident. This was too long. Two people died, ten people were taken to hospital suffering from smoke poisoning.

27 August 2007 in Italy
In the Tarviser Tunnel, a short distance from the border between Austria and Italy, on the Kanaltal motorway, a car skidded and crashed into the tunnel wall. A car coming up behind collided with the first vehicle. The driver of the first car died, her passenger was seriously injured. Both passengers in the other car, a mother and her young daughter, sustained slight injuries.

10 May 2007 in Austria
In the Pfänder Tunnel on the A 14 near Bregenz, a German lorry swerved onto the opposite lane and collided head-on with an articulated lorry from the Czech Republic which then blocked the traffic lane. A motorbike and another car crashed into the lorry. The motorcyclist and his passenger were seriously injured, the two motorists sustained slight injuries.

23 March 2007 in Australia
A rear-end collision in the 3.5 kilometre long Burnley Tunnel in Melbourne caused a mass pile-up involving three lorries and four cars - and one explosion. At least three people died in the ball of fire, hundreds of motorists were able to escape on foot.

19 January 2007 in Austria
A mass pile-up in the Ehrentalerberg tunnel on the A 2 near Klagenfurt in which 29 cars, nine lorries and a bus collided. Twelve people were injured, non of them some seriously. Around 150 people were able to leave the tunnel safely. It took twelve hours to clear all the vehicles. The accident was caused by single drops of wood or clear varnish which were spread by vehicles driving over them and which transformed the carriageway into a surface that was as slippery as ice.

24 December 2006 in Germany
In the Farchanter Tunnel on the B 2 near Garmisch-Patenkirchen, a women driving a van that had been converted to a mobile home left the carriageway, the vehicle skidded and then turned over. The woman driver suffered fatal injuries. All tunnel users were requested to leave the tunnel immediately because rescue services feared that the bottles of gas in the mobile home might explode.

17 December 2006 in Austria
At the entrance to the Tauern tunnel on the A 10 between Villach and Salzburg, a coach collided with a lorry. The coach carrying 50 passengers turned over. 30 people were injured.

21 November 2006 in Switzerland
In the Crapteig tunnel near Thusis in the Swiss canton of Graubünden, a German articulated lorry carrying wood panels caught fire. The tunnel was shut down immediately, nobody was injured. According to first findings, this accident was caused by technical problems.

9 November 2006 in Germany
In the east tube of Hamburg's Elb tunnel, a bus ran into a lorry and another lorry crashed into the accident site. Eight people were injured.

2 November 2006 in Switzerland
In the Gotthard tunnel on the A 2 between Lucerne and Chiasso, a car veered into the opposite lane and collided with an oncoming lorry. Another two lorries then crashed into the accident site. The motorist died, two HGV drivers were injured.

26 October 2006 in Norway
In the Eidsvoll tunnel near Oslo, a car collided head-on with a tank lorry. The lorry caught fire immediately. The motorist died in the accident, the lorry driver was able to escape injured.

16 September 2006 in Switzerland
In the Viamala tunnel on the A 13 south of Chur, a car swerved, grazing an oncoming coach carrying an ice hockey team from Tessin. This caused the bus to skid along the tunnel wall and catch fire. Another car crashed into the bus. The two cars also caught fire. The terrible outcome: nine dead and five injured.

25 July 2006 in Austria
A lorry driver from Kassel travelling through the Spering tunnel on the Pyhrn motorway in Upper Austria swerved onto the opposite lane and collided head-on with an oncoming lorry. The driver from Kassel died.

25 December 2005 in Germany
On entering a tunnel on the B 31 near Eriskirch in the Lake Constance district, a car skidded and collided with an oncoming car and the tunnel wall. The vehicle caught fire, four people aged between 18 and 23 burned to death, a fifth victim was hurtled from the vehicle and also died.

20 August 2005 in Switzerland
In the Isla-Bella tunnel on the A 13 between Chur and Bellinzona, two cars grazed each other. One of the cars ended up on the opposite lane where it collided with a bus. One woman died, two people were injured.

17 August 2005 in Austria
In the Roppener tunnel on the Inntal motorway (A 12) in Tirol's Oberland, a minibus drove into a lorry travelling on the opposite lane. The driver died.

6 June 2005 in Germany
In Hamburg's Elb tunnel, a coach carrying more than 40 children crashed into a lorry which had come to a halt due to congestion. Although an empty double-decker bus coming up behind was able to stop in time, a lorry crashed into this bus, pushing the vehicles together. All in all, 24 people were injured, including 20 children.

4 June 2005 in France
In the Fréjus tunnel on the A43/ A32 between Chambéry/ France and Turin/ Italy, a lorry carrying tyres caught fire. The flames spread to three other lorries. Two people died, seven suffered smoke poisoning. The around 13 kilometre long border tunnel between France and Italy, which was opened in 1980, is one of the most important Alpine axes for heavy duty traffic.

14 April 2004 in Switzerland
300 metres from the exit of the Baregg tunnel on the A 1 between Zurich and Basel, a lorry drove at full speed into the back of a passenger car and two lorries which had come to a halt following a pile-up. The passenger car was completely crushed and caught fire. The fire subsequently spread to one of the lorries. The driver of the car died, five people were injured. A fatal accident had already occurred on Easter Monday in this tunnel: A motorcyclist was hit and run over by a car. Then on 16 April, six vehicles were involved in a pile-up. Thankfully nobody was injured in the collision.

16 August 2003 in Switzerland
An Italian lorry collided head-on with a German car in the Gotthard tunnel. The driver of the car died, the four passengers and the lorry driver were seriously injured. The lorry had veered into oncoming traffic.

7 June 2003 in Turkey
Near Erzincan, a Turkish bus crashed into a tunnel portal. There was no trace of skid marks whatsoever. 27 people died, including the driver.

7 June 2003 in Italy
Near Vicenza, a German coach collided with the crash barrier of a tunnel. Six people, including one child, died, 38 were injured, some seriously.

24 October 2001 in Switzerland
A fire was caused by a head-on collision involving two lorries in the Gotthard tunnel on the A 2 between Göschenen and Airolo. Eleven people lost their lives in this disaster.

17 October 2001 in Denmark
In the Danish Guldborgsund tunnel between Copenhagen and the ferry port of Rödby, a lorry drove into a car in thick fog and caused a mass pile-up. Five people died, nine were injured, some seriously.

31 August 2001 in Austria
Three tunnel accidents in a single day resulted in two dead and nine injured. One woman was seriously injured when her car crashed into the portal of the Sonnstein tunnel on the B 145 near Traunkirchen in Upper Austria. In the Lainberg tunnel on the A 9 near Windischgarsten in Austria, two Austrians were killed and two Germans injured in a head-on collision. In the Katschberg tunnel on the A 10 near St. Michael in Lungau, six people were injured in a collision.

26 August 2001 in Switzerland
A head-on collision occurred in the St. Gotthard tunnel on the A 2 between Göschenen and Airolo. A fire broke out in which eleven people lost their lives.
13 August 2001 in Austria
Near Klagenfurt in Kärnten, an Italian coach carrying 30 Polish pilgrims crashed into the portal of the Reigersdorf tunnel. 24 people were injured, some seriously.

8 August 2001 in Austria
In the Amberg tunnel on the Rhine Valley motorway (A 14) between Frastanz and Feldkirch, an Austrian coach and a van, also from Austria, collided. Several approaching vehicles were caught in the subsequent pile-up. Three people died.

6 August 2001 in Austria
In the Gleinalm tunnel on the Pyhrn motorway (A 9) north of Graz, two cars collided head-on. They caught fire immediately. Five people died, including one small child. The four injured people who were rescued included a child who sustained 70 percent burns and two children aged three and five who suffered head injuries and smoke poisoning.

12 April 2001 in Austria
In the Helbersberg tunnel on the Tauern route, a rear-end collision resulted in a mass pile-up. A fire did not break out, but two people died and ten were injured.

11 November 2000 in Austria
At Kitzsteinhorn near Kaprun, a fire broke out in a cable car of a train running through the tunnel to the glacier skiing district. This was caused by a smouldering fire in the heating system. 155 lives were lost, including many children and young people.

29 Mai 1999 in Austria
A fire broke out in the Tauern tunnel following a rear-end collision. A lorry carrying paint exploded. 24 vehicles subsequently caught fire, turning the tube into a furnace in which 12 people lost their lives. It took 16 hours to get the fire under control.

24 March 1999 in France / Italy
A Belgian lorry carrying flour and margarine caught fire in the Mont Blanc tunnel. A lighted cigarette end caused this fire. The fire quickly spread and was not extinguished until 24 hours later. 39 people died in the fire.

18 November 1996 in the Channel
In the Eurotunnel, a lorry on a freight train caught fire. It took five hours to get the fire under control. Around 30 train passengers suffered serious smoke poisoning.

18 March 1996 in Italy
After a rear-end collision, a tank lorry exploded in a tunnel near Palermo. 19 cars caught fire. Five people died, 26 people were injured.

10 February 1996 in Japan
On the island of Hokkaido, a huge boulder weighing 50,000 tonnes crashed onto a tunnel tube. It took rescue services several days to reach the accident site. 20 passengers died.

28 October 1995 in Azerbaijan
289 people suffocated and were burned to death in a metro tunnel in Baku. A short-circuit in the electrical equipment of a metro car was suspected to have caused this disaster.

10 April 1995 in Austria
In a mass pile-up in the Pfänder tunnel near Bregenz, four cars caught fire. Three people died. A motorist driving into incoming traffic was the cause of this accident.

3 November 1982 in Afghanistan
In the Salang tunnel north of Kabul, a Soviet army convoy truck collided with a tank lorry. The explosion triggered an inferno. 700 to 2,000 people suffocated and were burned.

7 April 1982 in the US
In the Caldecott Tunnel near Oakland, California, seven people died in a mass pile-up.

11 July 1979 in Japan
In a collision involving several lorries and cars in the Nihonzaka tunnel, seven people lost their lives.

6 November 1972 in Japan
In the 13-kilometre long train tunnel near Fukui, the Kitaguni night express caught fire. This was caused by a fire in the dining car. 29 travellers suffocated.

14 February 1971 in Bosnia
The Zepce-Zenica early train derailed in the tunnel near Vranduk. 34 people suffocated in the subsequent fire.