Minibus hits freight train at Channel Tunnel, 19 injured
A bus carrying lorry drivers hit a stationary freight train at the loading platform in Coquelles, near Calais, on the French side of the Channel Tunnel. BBC
The vehicle involved was described as a minibus. Yahoo The collision took place on Thursday evening at 19:27 local time in France, which was 17:27 GMT.
The platform is the area where road vehicles are loaded onto shuttle trains before travelling through the tunnel for the crossing. The driver of the bus and the 18 passengers travelling with him on board were hurt when the two vehicles collided on the platform. Among them, two people were severely injured and were evacuated from the scene by helicopter after the collision.
French officials said no lives appeared to be in danger following the collision. All of the people involved in the crash were described as men of different nationalities. The bus had been transporting lorry drivers who were scheduled to board a shuttle rail service through the tunnel, the separate freight system that moves trucks and their drivers through the tunnel rather than carrying regular passengers.
Freight operations and Eurostar passenger services that use the tunnel continued to operate and were not disrupted by the crash on the loading platform, apart from a brief stoppage while emergency teams evacuated the injured from the scene. Eurostar, which runs the passenger trains to and from London through the tunnel, said its own trains were neither involved in the incident nor affected by it, and that all of its trains will run as expected.
