A minibus carrying lorry drivers collided with a freight shuttle at the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles, in northern France's Pas-de-Calais region, on the evening of Thursday 15 October, injuring all 19 people aboard the vehicle, according to TF1 Info.
The sub-prefect of the Calais district, Agathe Cury, told reporters at the scene that the minibus hit the shuttle at 19:27 local time on a loading platform at the Coquelles site. The alert was raised nine minutes later, at 19:36, TF1 Info reports.
Two of the injured were flown by helicopter to the regional university hospital in Lille for treatment. The remaining 17, whose injuries were classified as relative emergencies, were distributed among hospitals in Helfaut, Calais, Boulogne, Montreuil-sur-Mer and Dunkerque.
"No deaths are to be deplored at this stage," the Pas-de-Calais prefecture said in a statement. Cury said no one's life was in danger, and that the five people initially placed in the most serious category were expected to be reclassified.
Why it matters
The Channel Tunnel is one of the busiest cross-border links in Europe, carrying both freight shuttles and Eurostar passenger services between France and England. An incident on a loading platform raises immediate questions about how vehicles and trains are kept apart on the terminal apron, and about how quickly a mass-casualty response can be mounted in a confined, high-security transport site.
Cury said this was the first accident of its kind to occur on a Eurotunnel loading platform. A judicial investigation has been opened.
What happened on the platform
According to the sub-prefect, the minibus struck the shuttle as it was departing. She said the bus did not overturn, and that the cause of the collision was not yet known.
The vehicle was carrying 18 passengers and a driver. Cury said the driver was a Eurotunnel employee, and that the passengers were lorry drivers of several different nationalities. To her knowledge, all those hurt were men.
The prefecture said the injured suffered head and leg injuries. TF1 Info reported that the minibus had 19 people inside when it was struck by the freight train, which was unable to avoid it.
Emergency response and traffic impact
The rescue operation drew 55 firefighters, 25 emergency medical teams, around 20 border police officers and roughly 100 Eurotunnel staff, according to Cury. A medical-psychological support unit was set up at the hospitals receiving the injured.
Cury said freight traffic and Eurostar services were not interrupted. Passenger traffic was halted briefly to allow rescuers to work, including the helicopter evacuation of the two most seriously hurt, but she said "everything has returned to normal at this hour."
Eurostar's website showed no disruption to its trains for the following day, TF1 Info reported.
The sub-prefect held a press briefing at 22:15 outside Eurotunnel's headquarters in Coquelles.
What to watch: the outcome of the judicial investigation into why the minibus struck the departing shuttle, and whether French authorities adjust safety procedures on Eurotunnel's loading platforms as a result.
