A man was found dead yesterday in the Channel Tunnel, French authorities said, a rare accident providing yet another example of the lengths taken by migrants desperate to reach Britain.
Vehicle shuttle services and Eurostar passenger trains were delayed as one of the six sections of the tunnel was closed for investigations, although it remained unclear how the migrant had died, reports AFP.
“For the moment we suppose he wanted to climb onto the shuttle, which he missed, and that he was hit by the train itself,” said Patricio Martin from the border police, referring to the shuttle train that takes road vehicles through the tunnel.
The identity of the migrant was not known, but he was among some 40 people evacuated from the tunnel.
“Following the discovery of migrants on a freight shuttle, early this morning, the shuttle was immediately stopped,” local authorities in the Pas-de-Calais region said in a statement. “During an investigation by border police, a deceased migrant was found in the tunnel,” they added.
Intrusions into the undersea tunnel have risen in recent weeks as increasingly desperate migrants seek new tactics to enter Britain.
On Friday night about 150 people tried to enter the boarding area before being pushed back.
“Currently they are increasingly turning to the tunnel under the Channel, that is why we have security reinforcement at night and it is true that we have more intrusions than usual,” said Martin.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported a sailboat carrying migrants sank in the Aegean sea between Turkey and Greece yesterday and at least 17 people were missing, Greek authorities said.
Greece’s maritime ministry said Greek and Turkish rescue efforts had saved 16 of the between 33 and 37 migrants believed to be on board when the boat went down between the Greek islands of Farmakonisi and Agathonisi.
Their nationalities were not known.
“The operation is ongoing,” said a spokeswoman for Greece’s maritime ministry.
More than 135,000 refugees and migrants have arrived in Europe by sea in the first half of this year, many of them fleeing war, repression and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. Most are Syrians.
