'Nine dead' in Alps tunnel crash

Nine people were believed to have died today after a head-on crash between two lorries in the world's second-longest road tunnel in Switzerland.

Dense black smoke filled the 10-mile Gotthard Tunnel - a main north-south route through the Alps - as the lorries caught fire one mile from the southern exit. Drivers on both sides of the accident abandoned vehicles and fled on foot.

Rescuers were unable to reach a 300-metre stretch of tunnel because of the heat, police said. Parts of the roof had collapsed. One truck was carrying tyres and smoke from the burning rubber was possibly poisonous. People living nearby were told to stay indoors and keep windows and doors closed.

Traffic in the tunnel has increased since 1999 when a fire closed the Mont Blanc Tunnel between France and Italy, in which 39 people died.