News

A fire on a freight shuttle in the Channel Tunnel has halted train services through the tunnel.

The blaze which has been described as 'serious' started at around 3.00 pm today (11 September) is believed to have occurred around 11km from the French entrance.

The French regional administration office in Calais said six people were taken to a hospital after inhaling smoke. Their conditions were not immediately available. Eight more people were treated at the scene.

About 100 firefighters from both sides of the channel got the blaze under control, but it was not entirely extinguished hours later, said Georges Bos, a spokesman for France's Pas-de-Calais region, which was handling the emergency response.

Eurotunnel said the fire broke out on a lorry on a truck shuttle heading from Folkestone to Calais and quickly spread to other vehicles.

A spokeswoman said: "All the train drivers are safe. No-one is at risk, no customers are at risk."

Around 40 people, have been evacuated to the service tunnel while services are suspended in both directions.

The spokesman added: "The situation is that we're at a complete standstill. We have got services on both sides of the tunnel and they have been stopped. They are at various stations on either side of the tunnel. We are looking at what to do with them. At this stage we don't know how long the incident will last."

Eurotunnel said a train is on its way to pick up those who were evacuated and take them back to France.

Kent Police have tonight been forced to implement "Operation Stack" to deal with large numbers of freight vehicles making their way to the Channel tunnel.

The motorway's coastbound carriageway was closed between junctions eight and nine so that lorries could be parked on it.

Non-freight traffic was diverted off the M20 at Junction eight on to the A20.

A police spokesman said: "Traffic on the M20 is heavy around Dover and Eurotunnel and drivers are urged to avoid the area unless it is absolutely necessary." .

In 1996, the tunnel was severely damaged in a major fire on a shuttle train carrying lorries. That blaze burned for several hours, wrecking the concrete lining and facilities over around half mile of tunnel and causing £200 million worth of damage.