Bus, train collide, injuring 19 at Channel Tunnel terminal

Bus and train collide at Channel Tunnel terminal, injuring 19

The full report

A minibus carrying truck drivers collided with a freight train near the Channel Tunnel entrance in France, injuring 19 people, two of them severely. The incident occurred at the loading platform of the tunnel in Coquelles, near Calais.

The minibus was carrying drivers of various nationalities preparing to board a shuttle train through the tunnel. Two people, including the bus driver, were seriously injured and airlifted to a hospital in Lille, but none of the injuries were life-threatening.

The other injured passengers were brought to nearby hospitals for treatment. Authorities launched an inquiry into what caused the accident. Pas-de-Calais Deputy Prefect Agathe Cury said an inquiry was launched to determine what caused the accident.

Eurostar, which runs passenger train services between mainland Europe and the UK, said the collision would not impact its services. The company stated that the incident occurred several kilometers away from the Channel Tunnel and did not involve or impact Eurostar trains running from and to London.

The Channel Tunnel is the longest infrastructure of its kind in the world, linking Coquelles in northern France and Folkestone in England since 1994. Operated by Getlink, the tunnel is used by several hundred trains every day.

Eurostar carried 11.8 million passengers in 2025, holding a monopoly on cross-Channel passenger rail services for decades. The incident occurred at 19:27 (17:27 GMT), and freight traffic and Eurostar passenger traffic through the tunnel had not been disrupted by the incident, apart from a brief stoppage to allow the injured to be evacuated.