Minibus Hits Shuttle Train at Channel Tunnel Loading Platform in France: 19 Injured, None Life-Threatening; Eurostar and Freight Traffic Unaffected
Paris — At least 19 people were injured on Thursday evening, October 15, after a minibus collided with a train at a loading platform for the Channel Tunnel in northern France, Reuters reported, citing the local prefect's office. None of the injuries were life-threatening, the prefecture said in a statement, adding that ambulances, a helicopter and police were at the scene. The site is the Eurotunnel terminal at Coquelles, near Calais.
In a later statement, the prefecture said the minibus was carrying truck drivers who were preparing to board the Le Shuttle service on the loading platform, and that the minibus crashed into a train that was about to leave.
According to media reports citing Calais sub-prefect Agathe Cury, the crash happened at about 7:27 p.m. local time, when a shuttle train stood on each side of the loading dock — one being loaded with lorries to travel through the Channel Tunnel, the other previously loaded and about to depart — and the bus struck the train that was about to depart. The bus did not overturn. The injured were the Eurotunnel driver and 18 passengers; two of the victims were seriously injured and were airlifted to a hospital in Lille, while the others were sent to hospitals in Calais, Boulogne, Dunkirk and Rang-du-Fliers. Cury said no one's life is in danger.
Cury also said there was a brief pause in transit to evacuate the injured, but that the incident did not disrupt freight services or Eurostar passenger traffic. Eurostar told the BBC that the incident does not involve or impact Eurostar trains running to and from London, and that all of its trains will run as expected.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：欧洲隧道穿梭列车驶出法国科凯勒海峡隧道出口（资料图）。图片来源：Florian Fèvre，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0。Photo: A Eurotunnel Shuttle train at the Channel Tunnel exit in Coquelles, France (file photo). Image: Florian Fèvre, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
