Sixteen cleared over cable car fire disaster

A judge today acquitted all 16 people accused over an alpine cable car fire that killed 155 people, clearing them of criminal negligence.

Judge Manfred Seiss ruled in Salzburg that there was insufficient evidence to find that the 16 accused – 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.

All 16 had pleaded not guilty to charges of negligence. If convicted, they would have faced sentences of up to five years in prison.