19 injured as minibus hits train at French entrance to Channel Tunnel

A minibus carrying lorry drivers collided with a departing LeShuttle train on Thursday evening, leaving 19 people injured.

The collision took place on the loading platform at the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles, near Calais, on the French side of the Channel Tunnel.

No deaths were reported, although two people were initially believed to be seriously injured and were airlifted to hospital in Lille. 

However, Pas-de-Calais under-prefect Agathe Cury later said that none of the injured people were in a life-threatening condition.

“For reasons currently unknown, the minibus hit the shuttle,” Ms Cury said.

“This is the first time an incident of this type has occurred,” she added.

She explained that two shuttles were on the platform at the time. One was being loaded with heavy goods vehicles, while the other was preparing to depart.

The minibus was transporting lorry drivers to the area reserved for them aboard the freight shuttle.

She added that all the passengers were men and of different nationalities. “We do indeed have different nationalities, and the consulates have been informed,” she said.

Ms Cury also said that the unprecedented nature of the incident had prompted a rapid response.

“This is why we immediately mobilised all available resources at the request of the prefect, so that we could deal with the situation as quickly as possible,” she said.

Emergency services respond to collision

The Pas-de-Calais prefecture said in a statement published on X that the minibus “left its lane for reasons that remain unknown before hitting the side of a departing LeShuttle train”.

The alert was raised at 19:27 and emergency services were called out nine minutes later, at 19:36, the prefecture said.

A total of 55 firefighters, 25 emergency medical personnel, 20 national police officers and around 100 Eurotunnel staff attended the scene.

A specialist psychological support unit was also called to help anyone who needed it.

For now, the cause of the collision is still under investigation.

Cross-Channel services return to normal

The collision caused a temporary interruption to passenger LeShuttle services, which lasted around an hour and a half while emergency services dealt with the incident.

However, Eurostar and freight traffic were not affected and continued to run normally, according to the prefecture.

The prefecture confirmed that all cross-Channel traffic had since returned to normal.