Bodies recovered from Austria tunnel fire

Rescue workers in Austria have recovered the first victims of Saturday's fire in an Alpine train tunnel.

A rescue official said bodies had been moved to an annex of the tunnel, from where they are being brought to the surface.

The rescue operation continued throughout the night, but work was hampered by what are described as atrocious conditions within the tunnel.

Among the one-hundred-and-fifty-five people known to have died was a party of more than thirty members of the local government of the Austrian town of Wels and their families and friends. The local council was devastated eleven years ago when eleven members of staff died in a hotel fire in Turkey.

The fire on Saturday also claimed the life of a world skiiing champion, the German, Sandra Schmitt.

Most of the victims came from Austria and Germany but others nationalities known to be on the mountain train were Japanese, Americans, Slovenes and a Croat.

The bodies -- most of which are so badly burned they will have to be formally identified using DNA analysis -- will be sent to Salzburg for forensic tests.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service