Reuters, Lille/London :
Around 200 migrants tried to get into the Channel Tunnel from the French side overnight, clashing with staff and police and forcing a temporary suspension of rail services, a spokesman for Eurotunnel said.
Rail services resumed on Saturday morning but traffic was slow due to continued safety checks, the company said.
The incident was the latest in a series involving migrants who are camped around the northern French port of Calais in the hope of reaching Britain.
The migrants broke into Eurotunnel’s French terminal at 0030 local time (2330 BST), with 120 entering the tunnel before being intercepted by French police as far as 15 kilometres inside the tunnel, the company and police said.
“Such a large group had no chance of reaching the UK, so this was clearly an organised attack aimed at drawing media attention to the desperate situation of the migrants who are stuck in Calais,” Eurotunnel said in a statement.
Around 200 migrants tried to get into the Channel Tunnel from the French side overnight, clashing with staff and police and forcing a temporary suspension of rail services, a spokesman for Eurotunnel said.
Rail services resumed on Saturday morning but traffic was slow due to continued safety checks, the company said.
The incident was the latest in a series involving migrants who are camped around the northern French port of Calais in the hope of reaching Britain.
The migrants broke into Eurotunnel’s French terminal at 0030 local time (2330 BST), with 120 entering the tunnel before being intercepted by French police as far as 15 kilometres inside the tunnel, the company and police said.
“Such a large group had no chance of reaching the UK, so this was clearly an organised attack aimed at drawing media attention to the desperate situation of the migrants who are stuck in Calais,” Eurotunnel said in a statement.
