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ZURICH (Reuters) - The Gotthard road tunnel under the Alps in Switzerland was closed for hours on Wednesday after a truck and a passenger car collided, killing two people and damaging the key transit route, police said.

Police in the canton of Uri said four people were also hurt in the head-on crash in the 10-mile (16.9-km) tunnel, a main north-south route for Europe.

It said the driver of a car with German number plates crossed the center line for unknown reasons and collided with the truck around 09:15 local time (0815 GMT).

The tunnel reopened around 1430 GMT, police said.

In October 2001, a head-on collision in the tunnel between two trucks caused a massive fire, killing eleven and injuring many others.