Spanish rail workers freed from tunnel

The freed workers are said to be in "pretty good shape"

Thirty-four workers trapped by fire in an unfinished railway tunnel in central Spain have been freed.

The workers had used oxygen tanks and taken refuge in an air pocket until rescuers could reach them.

They were trapped for four hours after a transport vehicle ferrying them to the construction site caught fire.

The tunnel is part of a planned high-speed rail link between the Spanish capital, Madrid, and the northern city of Valladolid.

According to eyewitnesses, there was some kind of explosion at the construction site.

The workers had enough air to breathe and were in constant communication with the emergency services during their ordeal, said officials.

"They're all in pretty good shape and none have needed medical attention, although some of them were pretty shaken," a spokesman for Spain's Railway Infrastructure Management (GIF) told Reuters.

The tunnel - near the town of La Granja, 80km (50 miles) north-west of Madrid - is designed to be 30km (19 miles) long and due to be completed in early 2005.

It is the second serious accident along the same stretch of line this year. In January, two workers died when two large chutes filled with gravel collapsed on top of them.