The Eurotunnel Le Shuttle service that runs from Calais in France to Folkestone in the UK broke down on Tuesday, leaving passengers stranded inside the Channel undersea tunnel for five hours. Later, the passengers were transferred to a separate passenger shuttle via the service tunnel, to return to the Folkestone terminal. However, according to a report by the Guardian, some passengers on the Calais side were told to stay away from the terminal until 6 am on Wednesday, which led to large queues forming at the shuttle terminal. Read on to know more about what led to the terrifying incident in the undersea tunnel.
The Undersea Tunnel Incident Started When The Train’s Alarms Went Off
According to several sources, Le Shuttle revealed the incident started when the train’s alarms went off, and the investigation on the same is being carried out currently.
“The Shuttle was brought to a controlled stop and inspected. As a precautionary measure, for their safety and comfort, we transferred the passengers on-board to another shuttle, via the service tunnel,” a Le shuttle spokesman was quoted saying. Later Le Shuttle took to Instagram to tweet about the undersea tunnel incident and wrote, “A train has broken down in the tunnel and we are in the process of transferring customers to a separate passenger shuttle via the service tunnel, to return to our Folkestone terminal. We apologise sincerely for this inconvenience.”
Reactions of Passengers
The passengers stuck for five hours inside the Undersea Tunnel were terrified and it was apparent from their reactions. “Two hours later, they got us moving a little bit, and then it stopped again. The same problem had happened. It was getting hotter and hotter in the carriage,” revealed a passenger. Another tweeted to Le shuttle while being stuck in the undersea tunnel and wrote, “Hello @LeShuttle. Sitting in the boarding queue at Calais with no idea how long we will be waiting. Been here 4 hours so far. Any worthwhile and meaningful updates on the situation much-appreciated #eurotunnel.” Replying to the same, Eurotunnel Le Shuttle tweeted, “Sorry for the inconvenience caused James, we are working hard to resolve this as quick as we can ^Alex.”
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