Two emergency vehicle goes to the Italian side of the Frejus tunnel between France and Italy, June 4, 2005. The incident took place on Saturday evening after a truck carrying tires caught fire, which quickly spread to other three trucks, killing two Slovenian drivers. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

    PARIS, June 5 (Xinhuanet) -- French Transport Minister Dominique Perben, in Modane on Sunday, pledged to push through tougher road safety measures following Saturday's blaze at the Frejus tunnel linking France and Italy through the Alps.

    Perben, who took over the transport ministry in last week's major reshuffle of the French government, insisted that security measures had helped save lives. "The intervention plan worked well," French news channel TF1 quoted Perben as saying on Sunday.

    The Frejus tunnel will remain closed for months after a massive blaze that killed two Slovenian truck drivers, authorities said.

    "We have 10 kilometers (six miles) to clear out and repair. We'll be counting that time in months, rather than weeks," said Gilbert Santel, president of the company that runs the French sideof the tunnel.

    On Saturday, a truck transporting tires from France caught fire about halfway through the 13-kilometer (eight-mile) Frejus tunnel linking Modane on the French side with the Italian town of Bardonecchia.

    The blaze spread rapidly, engulfing several vehicles and killing the two Slovenian drivers, identified as 23-year-old Doliban Vukanovic and 24-year-old Pavol Blanarovik.

    Several others suffered from smoke inhalation, but were not seriously hurt.

    It took six hours for firefighters to bring the flames under control.

    The Frejus tunnel fire was apparently started by a fuel leak. French officials said a total of five vehicles had gone up in flames.

    The Frejus tunnel was opened to road traffic in 1980 but has come under increasing strain in recent years due to the growing amount of trans-Alpine traffic. Enditem