Eurotunnel suspends services after 'massive invasion' at Calais terminal
A "large and co-ordinated" group stormed the tracks at Calais at around 12.30am local time, Eurotunnel said. Several Channel Tunnel staff and two police officers were injured in the incident, the rail company added. Police are believed to have arrested up to 100 people. A spokesman said: "It's a massive invasion and intrusion by a very large and co-ordinated group of migrants. They are being gathered up by the police authorities." He added: "It's clearly an organised attack when it comes in such a large number, there are over 100 in this one group. They arrived together and in a well-organised manner broke through the fences and all clearly knew where they were going. "They ran through the terminal, knocking some staff to the ground and throwing stones at them. There are some minor injuries to staff and also two police officers. They were treated at the scene by paramedics." Services are not expected to resume until at least 10am UK time and passengers have been warned of lengthy delays. British authorities were working with French police to clear the tracks on Saturday morning, but officials said it would be several hours before normal service resumed. "It's a very co-ordinated and well-managed process but it's a very large group of people and it's dark so it will have to be done very carefully," the Eurotunnel spokesman added. "While they are on the track we have, for safety reasons, to suspend the service. Once that's done we will be able to restart. There's nobody (stuck) on trains, there are a small number of passengers affected and customers have gone to the ferry port to continue their journeys." Thirteen migrants have died trying to reach Britain since the start of the crisis in June. An Eritrean man in his 20s was killed on Wednesday and is believed to have been hit by a freight train near the tunnel entrance at around 1am. Early on Tuesday morning a 20-year-old Iraqi man was crushed to death after apparently sneaking on board a lorry to reach the UK. An HGV driver discovered the body in the back of his vehicle near Calais port as he inspected his load after he was forced to brake suddenly. An estimated 5,000 migrants displaced from countries including Syria, Libya and Eritrea are believed to be camped in and around Calais. At its peak, the number of attempts to board lorries or trains was around 2,000 a night - but that has since fallen. Source: The Guardian
