Eurostar trains halted after smoke detected in tunnel

 

Rail traffic through the Channel Tunnel was halted on Saturday after a lorry fire erupted at the French end of the tunnel, forcing a shuttle train to be evacuated due to the smoke, British police said, adding that there were no injuries.

"Due to an incident in the tunnel, all departures are currently suspended in both directions," tunnel operator Eurotunnel said on its Twitter feed.

The company later said that it hoped some services would restart Saturday evening. It also said that the lorry fire, which shut the tunnel for several hours, had not caused significant damage.

Eurostar, which operates passenger train services through the tunnel between Paris, London and Brussels, said separately on its website that no trains would run on Saturday following the closure.

PASSENGERS LEFT STRANDED BY CHANNEL TUNNEL SHUTDOWN

"We are sorry but we are unable to run any further trains today because [the] Eurotunnel has been closed due to smoke detected in the north tunnel," Eurostar said on its website.

"If you were planning to travel today, we advise you to postpone your journey and not to come to the station," it added.

All trains already en route were forced to turn back to their stations of origin.

Eurostar said its trains would resume on Sunday morning, with some delays.