This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/18/man-electrocuted-near-channel-tunnel-entrance-in-france
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Man electrocuted near Channel tunnel entrance in France | Man electrocuted near Channel tunnel entrance in France |
(35 minutes later) | |
A man has been eloctrocuted near the entrance to the Channel tunnel in Calais as he tried to climb on to the roof of a train to reach England, French officials have said. | |
At least 10 refugees or migrants have now died at Calais since the end of June. | |
“The individual died after he was electrocuted trying to climb on to the freight car,” a spokesman for local authorities in northern France told AFP. The local prefect’s office said the man, who died late on Thursday, was presumed to have been Syrian. | |
Eurotunnel, which operates the cross-channel link, said: “We deplore this event, which proves once again that any attempt to cross the Channel illegally carries considerable risks.” | |
Migrants have died in recent months trying to find a way to reach Britain by hiding on lorries or entering the Channel tunnel site. | |
In July, a Sudanese man aged between 25 and 30 was found dead near the tracks after he was run over by a lorry that was driving off the shuttle that he was trying to climb on to. A young Eritrean woman was run over on a Calais motorway this summer, and another was found dead at the side of the road. A 17-year-old Eritrean was found drowned in a water basin at the Channel tunnel. A 16-year-old Egyptian was electrocuted at Paris’s Gare du Nord railway station as he tried to jump from the roof of a stationary train on to a Eurostar. | |
At least 3,000 people from Syria, East Africa and Afghanistan are sleeping rough in insanitary conditions in a shanty town in Calais. | |
New security fences put up around the tracks have led to a drop in the number of attempts to break through to the Channel tunnel entrance. Eurotunnel has said the number of attempts have reduced from a peak of 2,000 a night to fewer than 150. | |
Eurostar said passenger train services were running as normal. |
Previous version
1
Next version