Hundreds of passengers trapped for 6 hours in 100F Channel tunnel

13 April 2012

Hundreds of families were trapped for hours by a power failure in the Channel Tunnel yesterday.

They suffered temperatures soaring to 100f (38c) in claustrophobic conditions on the car-carrying Le Shuttle train 350ft below the Channel.

There was no air-conditioning or water, lavatories were overflowing and children were crying with fear and heat.

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Holidaymakers were trapped in the shuttle for six hours after a power cut

Two diesel locos were sent to rescue the half-mile-long train, but one overheated, further delaying the operation.

Above ground, there were massive delays for families starting their summer holidays on one of the tunnel's busiest days of the year.

At one point shuttle trains were running three hours late and freight services five hours late.

Among the estimated 500 trapped passengers were Emma Collins and her children aged six, four and 11 months.

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Staff hand out bottles of water to frightened passengers

She said: "It got very, very hot - our thermometer was saying it was over 30, 31 degrees. There was no air circulating at all.

"Luckily we could get out of the car and move around but I understand three babies further along the train were taken very poorly. They had to get a doctor on board to see to them."

Mrs Collins said passengers were told frustratingly little about the situation.

She said: "It really seemed they didn't know what was happening. First of all they said the power supply, then they said the train had broken down."

Former Tory transport minister Steven Norris, who was also on the train, branded Eurotunnel's response to the crisis "clearly inadequate and under-rehearsed".

He said: "To have no emergency air or water, as well as overflowing, unusable loos, is utterly shocking."

Eurotunnel said last night the power failure had followed repair work on a gantry carrying the overhead cables used by the trains.

The Le Shuttle train - carrying around 130 cars divided into compartments of about five each - left Folkestone at 8.37am and came to a halt at about 9.30am, three miles from the French end of the tunnel.

It finally came out on the French side at about 3pm but passengers were not allowed off for another 45 minutes.

Mr Norris, who was with his wife Emma and nine-year-old son Harry, said: 'It was like the wartime submarine movie Das Boot. It was hellish. It was hot, steamy and claustrophobic.

"Some of the kids became very panicky and their parents were obviously distressed.

"Toilets were overflowing and there was only the subdued emergency orange lighting. Car engines were still warm and the air-conditioning was off, so the temperature kept rising. It was horrendous."

He told how a group of Scouts began distributing their own bottled water to help elderly passengers and children suffering from the heat.

But Mr Norris said: "With the loos out of action, some passengers did not dare drink because there was no way to relieve themselves."

He added: "Eurotunnel have cocked up and need to reassess their procedures as a matter of urgency."

A Eurotunnel spokesman said last night they had decided against taking passengers out through service tunnels for safety reasons.

The spokesman said: "The service tunnels are not a safe environment for small children and elderly people. It is much better for safety and comfort reasons to keep people in their vehicles with their possessions and bring the whole lot out in go.

"Though it is hard to believe, after what the passengers have been through it is a better solution to keep them there - not a great solution, but a better one.

"The French fire and rescue service went on board the train to make sure everyone was alright.

"It was very hot and sticky down there but no one needed any medical attention.

"A power failure like this is very rare. We were able to localise the failure and a reduced service continued through the tunnel but it has caused delays on what is a very busy day for us.

"We are now working hard to clear the backlog as quickly as possible."

Eurotunnel said other passenger trains still ran - though delayed - as the company was using the second bore of the tunnel in single-line mode.

Eurostar passenger trains also suffered delays. The incident led to massive tail-backs involving thousands more cars and lorries on the approach roads to the tunnel.

The M20 had tailbacks of five miles in each direction as police closed lanes as part of Operation Stack - parking for tunnel-bound lorries.

Passengers caught up in the delay described it as an "absolute nightmare".

Sid Cass, of Summerhill Park, Ashford, was due to board a train at 10.50am to start a four day holiday in Calais when he became stuck the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone.

He said: "We can't get on a train or go back the other way. There are young children here out in the boiling hot weather and we've all been stuck here for hours. Nobody is telling us what is going on."

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