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Channel Tunnel fire rages for hours
A fire in the Channel Tunnel was finally put out on Friday, almost 20 hours after the blaze took hold on a freight train, and the tunnel operator said passenger services were expected to resume later in the day.
- Agencies
- Published: 21:28 September 12, 2008
Lille, France & London: A fire in the Channel Tunnel was finally put out on Friday, almost 20 hours after the blaze took hold on a freight train, and the tunnel operator said passenger services were expected to resume later in the day.
Eurotunnel, which manages the undersea rail link, said its technicians were starting to assess the damage to the two main tunnels that connect Britain with France.
"We need around six to eight hours to make sure that everything is safe," Eurotunnel's CEO Jacques Gounon told French radio. "Unless there are unexpected surprises, we are looking at a resumption of service by the end of the day."
No one was killed in the fire, which turned one of the two tunnel shafts into an inferno and destroyed a French-bound train shuttle carrying lorries.
Officials say the freight tunnel is bound to have been badly damaged by the fire, with temperatures reaching 1,000 Celsius, and might take several weeks to repair.
However, Gounon said the adjoining tunnel "had not suffered any damage" and should be easy to reopen.
Investigation
About 40,000 people a day use the tunnel to travel between Britain and continental Europe. The Eurostar train operator said on its website it did not expect to be back in business until Saturday.
Thousands of passengers were left stranded by the blaze and aircraft companies laid on extra flights, while many lorry drivers looked to book onto ferry services.
Magistrates have opened an investigation into the fire, which officials believe started on a lorry loaded on the regular freight service.
Gounon said there was "nothing to indicate" the fire was started deliberately, adding that the blaze started some 40km into the 51km tunnel.
He said some truck drivers who had been travelling in a sealed compartment on the shuttle smashed windows to escape.
They should have waited until ventilation systems had removed toxic smoke before looking to reach the service tunnel, he added.
Six people were taken to hospital after inhaling the fumes and eight others suffered cuts and bruises.
Truck drivers caught up in the blaze said they did not hear any such advice and had felt trapped in the stranded train.
"The door of our carriage was locked. It was impossible to open it. We saved ourselves by breaking a window with a hammer," Belgian truck driver Patrick Lejein told daily Le Parisien.
"A truck was on fire and there was a series of explosions. There were about 20. Everything was exploding around us - tyres, fuel tanks and then there was this smoke which stopped us seeing and breathing properly," he added.
Any prolonged disruption to services would be a blow for Eurotunnel, which posted its first profit only last year, but Gounon said the company was insured and he did not expect any financial problems as a result of the blaze.
"The situation will not have significant consequences for the future of the company," he said.
Shares in the company were down 0.7 per cent at 8.94 euros on Friday noon local time, recovering from a three per cent fall when trading opened on the Paris stock market.
Flights booked up
Meanwhile, travellers between Britain and France faced another day of misery yesterday as the Channel tunnel remained closed after a fierce fire, with many still struggling to make alternative arrangements.
At London's St Pancras station many passengers arrived hoping to take the Eurostar to Paris despite Thursday's fire, complaining of mixed messages from tunnel operators.
"We checked the website last night around 9.00 pm. It just said delays are expected, but it didn't say anything about cancelled services," said Kirsty McIntyre, 28, struggling to get to France for a weekend with friends.
"So we came today and it's not happening. We're trying to figure out our options. We're going to see if we can get a bus to Dover and a ferry to Calais," she added.
"It was a bit confusing - you get one message from the website last night and another message here," she said.
Many passengers were forced to spend an extra night in London or Paris on Thursday as flights between the two cities quickly became fully booked, while ferries were also in heavy demand.
On Friday morning the scene at St Pancras was still one of confusion.
"I heard the announcement in the Tube this morning that there was no service," said Lithuanian Katia Nazmutdinova, 25, who was planning to travel to Paris for a trade show.
"They don't know if the service will be available tomorrow but the thing is, even if I come tomorrow I don't think I'm going to be able to use their train because I think all the tickets will be sold out."
John Piears, a retired policeman, was philosophical. "You can jump up and down and scream and shout but it's an accident, it couldn't be helped," he said.
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