The production of charged hadrons with high p T in αα collisions at √ s =126 GeV and pp collisions at √ s =31 and 63 GeV is compared, and the structure of the events associated with the high- p T particles is studied. The probability of finding associated particles close to the trigger particle increases strongly between √ s =31 and 63 GeV for pp collisions. For p T >2.5GeV/ c the αα/pp cross section ratio at the same energy per nucleon is measured to be 18.7 ± 2.0, to be compared with A 2 = 16, and a higher associated multiplicity is observed for αα.