Migrant dies in Channel Tunnel trying to reach Britain, say French authorities

                      A migrant has died on a freight shuttle trying to reach Britain Photo: AFP

PARIS:  A migrant died on Tuesday seeking to board a UK-bound moving train inside the Channel Tunnel as French border police struggle to contain a rising tide of intrusions into the restricted Calais site.

The reported death Tuesday came shortly after Eurotunnel reported a group of migrants was found on a truck in the tunnel leading from Calais in northern France. Thousands of migrants are camped in Calais, living in dire conditions as they hope to reach a better life in Britain by stowing away on trucks as they wait to be loaded onto freight trains for the trip.

The encampments have heightened tensions between France and Britain, with each accusing the other of failing to deal with the situation.

The local prefecture confirmed the death but offered no details. Eurotunnel said border police responding to the report of stowaways found the dead migrant. Train service was delayed for thousands of passengers as well as on the freight trains that carry trucks between France and England.

It was the first death inside the tunnel in six years, though three other migrants have died near its entrance in the past month as part of increasingly desperate attempts to illegally enter trains or lorries bound for Britain.

The incident led to delays on Eurostar and Le Shuttle trains, leaving passengers waiting up to three hours extra for trains leaving Folkestone and 45 minutes for the St Pancras service. Daytrippers were at one stage advised to rearrange their journeys.

Gilles Debove, of the police union Unité SGP-Police FO, said "Around 400 migrants arrived and stormed the tunnel, as they do almost every night. One managed to board a freight shuttle and unfortunately fell off, losing his life."

Patricio Martin, local head of the border police, said: "For the moment we assume that he wanted to jump onto the shuttle and missed and that he was struck by the train itself.”

The victim, still unidentified last night, had not acted alone.

According to AFP, police evacuated around 40 African migrants from the tunnel during the incident.