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- A minibus carrying heavy-goods-vehicle drivers struck the side of a stationary Le Shuttle train at the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles, France, at about 7.27pm local time on Thursday. - Nineteen people were injured, including the driver; two were airlifted to hospital in Lille with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. - The bus was driven by a Eurotunnel employee and did not overturn; the cause of the collision is unknown. - Vehicle shuttle services were suspended for 90 minutes; Eurostar passenger services were unaffected. - A judicial investigation has been opened; officials say it is the first accident of its kind at a Eurotunnel loading platform since 1994.
At least 19 people were injured on Thursday evening when a minibus collided with a stationary train on the French side of the Channel Tunnel, in an accident officials described as unprecedented in the tunnel's three decades of operation.
The collision happened at about 7.27pm local time at the loading platform of the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles, near Calais, where road vehicles board the Le Shuttle trains that carry them beneath the English Channel between France and Britain. The minibus struck the side of a shuttle train that was about to depart, injuring everyone on board the vehicle, including its driver.
French authorities said none of the injuries were life-threatening, although two of the injured were classified as absolute emergencies and airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in Lille for treatment. The remaining 17 were taken to hospitals in Calais, Boulogne, Dunkirk and Rang-du-Flers. A judicial investigation has been opened into the cause of the crash, which remains unknown.
According to the sub-prefect of Calais, Agathe Cury, there were two Le Shuttle trains at the loading dock when the accident occurred. One was being loaded with lorries for a crossing through the Channel Tunnel; the other had already been loaded and was about to depart. For reasons that are still unknown, the minibus struck the shuttle train that was about to leave.
An aerial view of the Channel Tunnel terminal complex at Coquelles, where the collision occurred Credit: Stephen Dawson / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
The Pas-de-Calais prefecture announced the accident on X in the evening, writing that a minibus transporting heavy-goods-vehicle drivers who were about to board a Le Shuttle shuttle had been involved in an accident at the loading platform of the Eurotunnel site. The prefecture said significant resources were immediately mobilised by Eurotunnel, followed by operations under the authority of the prefect of Pas-de-Calais.
The vehicle involved was a Mercedes minibus, and local media published a photograph showing heavy damage to its front chassis. Importantly, officials confirmed that the minibus did not overturn in the collision; the injuries were caused by the force of the impact itself. Early unconfirmed reports had suggested the bus flipped onto the tracks, but the official account describes a direct collision with the side of the stationary train.
The crash took place at the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles, the continental gateway for Le Shuttle services, which transport road vehicles through the Channel Tunnel connecting France and the United Kingdom. The tunnel, which opened in 1994, carried 3.4 million vehicles last year alongside millions of Eurostar passengers, according to reports on the incident.
All 19 people involved were injured, including the driver. The passengers were 18 heavy-goods-vehicle drivers of different nationalities who were preparing to travel through the tunnel, and the driver was an employee of Eurotunnel. Cury said the injured were all men and that their consulates had been notified, though she gave no further details about their identities.
Emergency responders rushed to the scene at the Eurotunnel platforms, where vehicles are boarded onto trains. About 200 emergency personnel were deployed, including ambulances, helicopters and police officers, according to the Saudi Gazette's account. A helicopter equipped with a mobile intensive-care unit was among the aircraft sent to the scene.
The two most seriously hurt were airlifted to Lille, while the others were distributed among hospitals across the region. Cury told a press briefing that at this stage, no lives were in danger. French media reported that five people had sustained serious leg or head injuries, though the prefecture's official position was that none of the injuries were life-threatening.
The UK Foreign Office said it was following reports of the collision on the French side of the Eurotunnel, adding that its thoughts were with all those affected and that it stood ready to provide consular assistance to any British nationals involved.
Cury said it was unclear why the bus hit the train, adding that this was the first time an accident of this kind had occurred on a Eurotunnel loading platform since services started running in 1994. The statement underlines how unusual the incident is: the loading platforms are tightly controlled environments where vehicles are guided onto shuttle trains in a carefully choreographed sequence, and a collision between a staff minibus and a stationary train has no precedent.
The Tribune's report noted that the sub-prefect of Calais was present at the site on Thursday evening, and an initial situation update was provided during a press briefing scheduled for 10.15pm local time.
Vehicle shuttle services through the tunnel were suspended for about 90 minutes while the injured received treatment and were moved from the scene, before gradually resuming late in the evening. Eurostar, which runs passenger trains between London, Paris and other destinations, said its services were not directly affected.
"An incident occurred several kilometres away from the Channel Tunnel tonight, not involving Eurostar," the operator said in a statement carried by Graphic Online. "This incident does not impact Eurostar trains running from and to London. All of Eurostar trains will run as expected."
The last two trains running between Paris Gare du Nord and London St Pancras on Thursday were cancelled, but Eurostar said this was due to engineering works and not the collision.
The accident comes at a time when cross-Channel transport links are under close scrutiny. For readers following European transport news, the incident is a reminder of the complexity of the operations at one of the world's busiest international rail crossings. France has also seen other unusual transport and infrastructure incidents recently, including a cyber attack on French supermarket refrigeration systems, while French manufacturers such as Citroën continue to innovate in road transport.
A judicial investigation has been opened, and investigators will seek to establish why the minibus veered into the side of the stationary train. Questions are likely to focus on the movements of the staff vehicle on the loading platform, visibility conditions at the time, and whether any mechanical failure or human error was involved.
The prefecture's initial report described 19 people involved including the driver, with no deaths and no life-threatening injuries, a picture that held through the evening's updates. As the investigation proceeds, Eurotunnel will face scrutiny over safety procedures on its loading platforms, even as officials stress that nothing like this has happened in more than 30 years of operations.
Arab News also reported that authorities had not immediately provided more details about how the accident happened or the nature of the victims' injuries, beyond confirming that the coach driver was among those hurt. Further updates are expected as the judicial inquiry gets under way and the injured continue their recovery in hospitals across northern France.
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A minibus transporting lorry drivers who were about to board a Le Shuttle service collided with the side of a stationary shuttle train at the Eurotunnel loading platform in Coquelles, near Calais, at about 7.27pm local time. Nineteen people were injured.
No. The Pas-de-Calais prefecture confirmed that no deaths were reported and that no lives were in danger, although two people were classified as absolute emergencies and airlifted to hospital in Lille.
The minibus was carrying 18 heavy-goods-vehicle drivers of different nationalities who were preparing to travel through the tunnel, plus the driver. The driver was a Eurotunnel employee, and all of the injured were men.
Vehicle shuttle services through the tunnel were suspended for about 90 minutes while the injured were treated and moved, then gradually resumed. Eurostar passenger trains and freight services were not affected.
The cause is not yet known. The sub-prefect of Calais, Agathe Cury, said it was unclear why the minibus struck the train, and a judicial investigation has been opened. She said it was the first accident of its kind at a Eurotunnel loading platform since services began in 1994.
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