Bus hits train stopped on French side of Channel Tunnel, with 19 injured

A bus has hit a stationary freight train near the French entrance to the Channel Tunnel, injuring the driver and 18 passengers, French authorities say.

The bus, which was carrying lorry drivers due to take a shuttle rail service, struck the train at the loading platform of the tunnel in Coquelles, near Calais, at 19:27 (18:27 BST) on Thursday.

The bus driver and one passenger were severely injured and evacuated by helicopter. None of the injuries were life threatening, a local official said.

Local sub-prefect Agathe Cury said freight and Eurostar passenger traffic through the tunnel had not been disrupted after a brief stoppage to evacuate injured people. An investigation has begun.

"Two trains were on either side of the platform. One was being loaded by heavy goods vehicles ahead of a cross-Channel journey, and another train that had previously been loaded was departing," Cury said.

"For a reason that currently remains unknown, the minibus collided with the departing train.

"The bus did not overturn, it is still upright – but the shock and the collision caused injuries to the people involved."

The incident involved a minibus transporting workers who were about to board Le Shuttle. All were men of different nationalities, she added.

Cury said it was "the first time an incident of this type has occurred" on an Eurotunnel loading platform.

The BBC's Evan Davis, who was travelling through the Eurotunnel to Calais at the time of the incident, witnessed blue light vehicles "concentrated on one of the platforms" as he entered France.

"There were plenty of cars queueing up at check-in when I drove past just now, and I saw some cars going through check-in, so despite the collision they weren't being held," he said from the scene.

Photos published by local French newspaper La Voix du Nord , external showed a small bus with damage to its front and side standing alongside a train, among a crowd of emergency workers.

Eurostar has released an update saying: "An incident occurred several kilometers away from the Channel Tunnel.

"This incident does not involved or impact Eurostar trains running from and to London. All of Eurostar trains will run as expected."