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Truck driver arriving in a rescue shuttle at the French fire station. |
A major fire aboard a freight train damaged the undersea Channel Tunnel on Thursday, halting all rail traffic, including passenger services, between Britain and continental Europe, the tunnel operator said. Eurotunnel, the company which manages the tunnel, said there would be no freight or passenger travel on Friday and a spokesman said he could not say when services would resume.
The blaze turned one of the two main tunnel shafts into a smoking inferno. No one was killed, but six people fell ill after inhaling fumes and needed hospital treatment in Calais.
The French interior minister said emergency services had contained the fire some four hours after it was first detected and were starting to assess the situation.
“It is probable that there is considerable damage because the firemen told me that the blaze got as hot as 1,000 degrees (Celsius),” Interior Minister Michelle Alliot-Marie said.
She said it might take “several weeks” to make the necessary repairs to the tunnel normally dedicated to freight transport, but a separate, parallel tunnel reserved for passenger trains was not touched by the flames, but Eurostar, which runs the passenger trains between London and the continent, was forced to shut down its service when the blaze took hold.
About 40,000 people a day travel through the Chunnel. Early start to the weekend, I guess.
Early reports, this morning, say the “cooling-down” process hasn’t finished – with spot fires still erupting.
I’d say an early start to the weekend is on. Best excuse in town.
Don’t ya jes hate it when shit happins rite in fron o’ ya and now yer stuck?
We had the same thing happen last year (Oct 2007) on the I-5 truck tunnel in Valencia just north of Los Angeles. It was a mess and took them a week to clean up.
That poor guy looks like they’re taking him to Auschwitz.
Just to say security in this tunnel is top priority. It’s the second fire in this very tunnel ( first one made less damages, but evacuation was too long), and we’ve had a deadly fire a few years ago in the Mont Blanc Tunnel( crossing the alps between France and Italy). In the Chunnel, there’s now a parallel tunnel dedicated to people’s evacuation and transportation of firemen and their equipment.
This time, it seems firemen were there fast, and evacuation was correctly done.
The truck driver popped open the door and the French promptly surrendered.
Is it me, or has there been a rise in the amount of LITTLE/strange things happening?
HOw in the world this Started, a Fire in the chunnel, is kinda WEIRD.
#7 “HOw in the world this Started, a Fire in the chunnel, is kinda WEIRD.”
This is the 3rd time it’s happened. Seems par for the course actually.
You would think that BEFORE they sent something DOWN, it would be inspected for problems..LIKE LEAKS..Worn breaks..
This is a NEW train I suppose, designed FOR the Chunnel..
Unless some Mysterious GAS is forming in the BOTTOM levels..That Ignites, randomly…
Something is happening.
Hmmmmm, a major Chunnel fire on 9/11. I read that the official time it was discovered was 1400 GMT. On a hunch, I looked up the 9/11/01 timeline. The first tower fell at 1359 GMT. Too many coincidences?
The chunnel safety system works yet again. In a fire, people evacuate to a special service tunnel and get out that way. The ventilation system fans then ensure that the fire is contained while emergency vehicles arrive.
I would Vacume Pump the WHOLE system..
Cars load up on a transport system…And NO AIR in the WHOLE tunnel..
MOSt chemicals cant EXPLODE with out OXYGEN..
Terrorists CANT get in as you need special suits.
7. ECA Is it me, or has there been a rise in the amount of LITTLE/strange things happening?
WHAT is really STRANGE is all the CAPITALIZED WORDS that keep showing up for no APPARENT reason. I wonder what that is ALL ABOUT. Maybe should start looking into BOLD CAPITALS as well in case people miss something.
Was delayed in France due to the fire in the Chunnel. Now no one wants to reimburse for the added expense (hotel room and flight to return to London). Has anyone else shared this experience?