Eurotunnel Le Shuttle passengers stuck for hours after train breaks down underneath Channel, later rescued
Kent: Dozens of people, who were stranded for hours inside the Channel Tunnel after a train from Calais in France to UK's Folkestone had broken down, were rescued on Tuesday.
Footage emerged showing Eurotunnel Le Shuttle passengers being evacuated through an emergency service tunnel after having to abandon their vehicles, reports BBC.
WATCH: #Eurotunnel Le Shuttle passengers walking with luggage and pets after a security alarm stopped the train under the English Channel. #ChannelTunnels #emergency @LeShuttle pic.twitter.com/n1hY5O2uwD
— BNN United States (@BNNUS) August 24, 2022
The stranded passengers were rescued and transferred to a replacement train and taken to the Folkestone terminal in Kent.
Good morning. Following yesterday's incident, we are now back to running normal services. You can stay up to date with the latest travel information here: https://t.co/OirFC3YsJq
— Eurotunnel Le Shuttle (@LeShuttle) August 24, 2022
Eurotunnel earlier tweeted: " A train has broken down in the tunnel and we are in the process of transferring customers to a separate passenger shuttle via the service tunnel, to return to our Folkestone terminal. We apologise sincerely for this inconvenience."
A train has broken down in the tunnel and we are in the process of transferring customers to a separate passenger shuttle via the service tunnel, to return to our Folkestone terminal. We apologise sincerely for this inconvenience. pic.twitter.com/w98HZPAU7M
— Eurotunnel Le Shuttle (@LeShuttle) August 23, 2022
Eurotunnel later said the service has been restored.
"Good morning. Following yesterday's incident, we are now back to running normal services," read the tweet.
Passenger share their experience:
Mike Harrison, from Cranbrook in Kent, told BBC News it took about six hours to travel from Calais to Folkestone.
He said staff spent over an hour trying to find the fault on the train after it had broken down initially before they got it moving again only for it to "conk out" after five minutes.
Passengers had to walk 10 to 15 minutes to another train, he said.
"Things were getting a bit fractious, a bit stressed. A few people were having minor panic attacks," he said.
Rachel Thynne told BBC Radio Kent it was "getting hotter and hotter" while staff tried to identify the problem.
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