Eurostar suspended after migrants break through Calais entrance

Trains traveling through the Channel Tunnel were running with delays on Saturday, after a large group of migrants forced their way into the Eurotunnel terminal on the French side and got onto the tracks overnight.

According to Sky News, it may be hours before Eurotunnel resumes the train services, but the operator has allowed passengers to use their train tickets on the ferry.

It came after attempts to penetrate the sprawling Eurotunnel site spiked in August as migrants tried several times a night to outfox hopelessly outnumbered security officials and police.

“They arrived together an in a well-organised manner, broke through the fences and all clearly knew where they were going”.

“This has never been seen before, it was a determined and well-planned attack”, a spokesman told AFP of the incident, which took place shortly after midnight (2230 GMT Friday) at the entrance to the tunnel near the northern French port city of Calais.

“This looks like quite a carefully co-ordinated and organised attack, possibly to raise the profile of their situation or as a last-ditch attempt before the new fences are up”.

The spokesman added: “They ran through the terminal, knocking a few staff to the ground and throwing stones at them”.

The lorry driver climbed up to the space above the cab and pulled the migrant down after being alerted by the police officers. “They were treated at the scene by paramedics”. Six security staff managed to hold 80 of the group back but 120 got in to the terminal and made their way to the tunnel.

The area where the break-in occurred is now having high security fencing installed, Eurotunnel said.

Police intervened to prevent the group, which a police source put at least 300, from entering the port.

Such attempts can be fatal: in the past three months, a few 13 people have died while trying to reach the tunnel.