Verdict awaited in cable car inferno trial

The families of 155 people killed more than three years ago in a cable car inferno at an Alpine resort are awaiting a verdict in the trial of officials and technicians suspected of failing to ensure the safety of their passengers.

Judge Manfred Seiss will decide in Salzburg today whether 16 suspects - including cable car company officials, technicians and government inspectors - were responsible for conditions that allowed a faulty heater to cause the blaze on November 11, 2000, which killed all but a dozen skiers in the crowded cabin.