Migrant youth killed by Channel Tunnel train

The boy, who is thought to be from east Africa and to be around 16 years old, is the 11 person to have died near the tunnel while trying to reach the United Kingdom since June, the BBC reported.

He is believed to be the 12th person killed in or around the Channel Tunnel entrance in Calais since the refugee crisis erupted earlier this year.

The migrant was hit by a freight shuttle at around 2.00am on the Channel tunnel site, officials said.

Numerous people fleeing conflicts and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa gather near the French entrance to the channel tunnel, hoping to find their way into the UK.

An estimated 5,000 refugees and migrants displaced from countries including Syria, Libya and Eritrea are believed to be camped in and around the French port. “An investigation is underway”, the local prefecture said in a statement, according to the Independent.

He was found unconscious by the side of the railway and declared dead at the scene on Wednesday night. Officials said they believe the teen could be Eritrean or Sudanese.

About a dozen migrants are known to have died trying to reach Britain from France through the tunnel. Riot police dispersed 350 people, mostly Syrian refugees, from their tents and other dwellings in Calais on 21 September.