:: Deepquest ::

Seems about 1am the central computer lost contact with the traffic system in
the tunnel. A technician was aroused, but he pointed out that the city had
not signed a support agreement in order so save money, so he was not on call
at nights.

An accident occurred in the tunnel with a car flipping over. The sensors
reported the problem, but because the central computer could not communicate
with the system in the tunnel, it could not be closed. The car caught fire,
and the smoke alarmed more sensors that were programmed to automatically
close the tunnel (with the accident victim inside).

Since one of the gates was not closing (it had been demolished but not
repaired), the out-of-control system went into fail-safe mode and turned all
of the traffic lights red.

Even in the middle of the night, Berlin never sleeps (and especially so
during a World Cup in Soccer), so the traffic piled up with no one being
able to go anywhere near the tunnel. Police were called to direct traffic
and get the accident car and victim out (who was unhurt, if ruffled) by
about 5.30 am, shortly before rush hour begins (7.30 is a normal working day
start in the eastern parts of Berlin).

The computer refused to budge from the fail-safe mode. They called the
technician again (who was now awake, anyway). He agreed to come in, but
could not get the system to restart, either, until he cut through the
cabling to get a cold-start on the traffic lights on the major streets. It
took another few hours to get everything working again.

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