Minibus hits departing train at Eurotunnel in France, injuring 19

Nineteen people were injured when a minibus carrying workers collided with a train on the French side of the Channel Tunnel, at a Eurotunnel loading platform where vehicles board Le Shuttle.

Cury said two trains were on either side of the platform at the time. One was being loaded with heavy goods vehicles ahead of a cross-Channel journey, while another that had already been loaded was departing.

"For a reason that currently remains unknown, the minibus collided with the departing train," Cury said. "The bus did not overturn, it is still upright – but the shock and the collision caused injuries to the people involved."

According to Cury, the minibus was transporting workers who were about to board Le Shuttle, and all of them were men of different nationalities. It is not clear whether any British nationals are among the injured.

Cury said it was "the first time an incident of this type has occurred" on a Eurotunnel loading platform.

Witness account

The BBC's Evan Davis, who was travelling through the Eurotunnel to Calais at the time, saw blue-light vehicles "concentrated on one of the platforms" as he entered France. He said there were plenty of cars queueing at check-in as he drove past, and that some cars were going through check-in, so traffic was not being held despite the collision.

Photos published by the local French newspaper La Voix du Nord showed a small bus with damage to its front and side standing alongside a train, among a crowd of emergency workers.

Eurostar unaffected

Eurostar released an update saying the incident occurred several kilometres away from the Channel Tunnel. "This incident does not involve or impact Eurostar trains running from and to London. All of Eurostar trains will run as expected," it said.

Source: BBC World.