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Smoke alarm sets off fire scare in Austrian Alpine tunnel

Dec 11, 2017 | 12:45 AM

BERLIN — A fire alarm inside a railway tunnel being built under the Austrian Alps prompted workers briefly to take shelter in an underground safety area Monday, a project manager said.

Eighteen people were working on a tunnel-boring machine inside the Brenner tunnel construction site when the alarm went off, said Konrad Bergmeister, the Austrian CEO of project management company BBT SE. It turned out to be a false alarm, he said.

He said a smoke sensor set off the alarm, prompting people to take shelter in a safety container, but workers quickly determined there was no fire or smoke. Electricians were working to determine the cause of the alarm.

Officials had earlier said the tunnel-boring machine had apparently caught fire or at least emitted smoke inside the tunnel.