Channel Tunnel reopens after fire
The Channel Tunnel is open again this morning after a fire
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By inthenews. |  |
Saturday, 13, Sep 2008 08:12
The Channel Tunnel has reopened with a very limited service after a fire broke out on a lorry travelling in a freight train on Thursday.
Only freighter transporters and empty test train services are being allowed through the tunnel at the present time, although Eurostar expects to be able to restart open public services soon.
Thousands of people have been affected by the travel chaos over the last two days, when no train connections have been possible due to security fears and some damage caused inside.
A fire broke out on a freight train inside the tunnel, about seven miles from Calais, on Thursday afternoon leaving 14 people injured.
Kent fire and rescue service, which was still tackling the fire on Friday morning, said it was not scaling down its operations there.
The French interior ministry is quoted as saying the lorry, which dramatically overturned inside the train, was carrying the chemical phenol, commonly used in the pharmaceutical sector.
The Highways Agency in the UK has told travellers to expect serious delays on the M20 in and around Dover as emergency services continue to control the situation.
Hundreds of passengers in both the UK and France have been stranded by the disruption caused by the fire. Operation Stack has been implemented by Kent police, resulting in the closure of junctions eight and nine on the coastbound section of the M20.
Passengers stuck at London's St Pancras station have been offered ferry tickets to France in exchange for their Eurostar tickets.