Since 1965, the Mont Blanc Tunnel has provided an all-weather passage between Chamonix (France) and Courmayeur (Italy). Nearly 2 million vehicles (including 800,000 lorries) used the tunnel without accident until 24 March, 1999. That day, at 11 am, a fire broke out; many victims were stranded inside and died. After improvements were made to the ventilation system, the tunnel opened again in 2002.