19 hurt after bus hits train near Channel Tunnel in France
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An aerial view of the Eurotunnel at Coquelles, near Calais, northern France. A bus collided with a train near the Channel Tunnel late Oct 15.
PHOTO: AFP
- A minibus hit a stationary train at a Channel Tunnel boarding area in France on 15 October, injuring 19 people, including the driver and 18 passengers.
- Five people were severely injured, but officials said no life was in danger. Police opened an investigation into “unintentional injury”.
- Getlink’s passenger shuttles stopped for one hour, then normal traffic resumed. Eurostar said its services were not affected and “All Eurostar trains will run as scheduled.”
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PARIS - A minibus collided with a stationary train in a Channel Tunnel vehicle boarding area in France on on the evening of Oct 15, injuring the driver and 18 passengers, authorities said.
Five people were severely injured though no one’s life appeared to be in danger, the local prefect said in a statement.
The minibus was carrying truck drivers of various nationalities who were heading to travel on a LeShuttle train, which carries vehicles and their passengers through the tunnel.
The area around the tunnel entrance was sealed off on the evening of Oct 15, AFP correspondents at the scene reported, with a helicopter and several emergency vehicles present.
An investigation has been opened on suspicion of unintentional injury, the local prosecutors’ office in Boulogne-sur-Mer told AFP.
Calais deputy prefect Agathe Cury told a news conference that freight traffic was not disrupted but Getlink passenger shuttles were suspended for an hour while emergency services took care of the victims.
Speaking at 2030 GMT, she said normal traffic had resumed.
Passenger train service Eurostar said its services were not affected.
At 50km in length, the Channel Tunnel is the longest infrastructure of its kind in the world.
It has linked Coquelles in northern France and Folkestone in England since 1994.
Operated by Getlink, it is used by several hundred trains every day.
Getlink runs Le Shuttle, trains carrying vehicles between France and the United Kingdom, as well as a rail freight service.
According to its website, the company handles around 2.2 million car crossings a year and carries eight million passengers.
Separately, Eurostar, which has held a monopoly on cross-Channel passenger rail services for decades, said it carried 11.8 million passengers in 2025.
However, the Oct 15 evening’s accident involved “no Eurostar train and has no impact on Eurostar services to and from London”, the company said in a statement.
“All Eurostar trains will run as scheduled.” AFP