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Governments pledge greater Eurotunnel security after death of migrant

Migrants on the main road into Calais ferry port where some have been trying to board UK bound lorries.
Migrants on the main road into Calais ferry port where some have been trying to board UK bound lorries. Migrants on the main road into Calais ferry port where some have been trying to board UK bound lorries.

BRITISH and French governments have pledged to increase security at the Eurotunnel after one migrant died during an attempt by hundreds to storm the Channel Tunnel.

Eurotunnel has revealed that since the beginning of the year it has blocked 37,000 migrants trying to make their way to Britain and that in the last month nine people have died trying to cross the Channel.

The operator said that on Monday night 2,000 attempts had been made by people to storm the tunnel, and that it had fielded 1,500 more last night – when a man believed to be a Sudanese national was crushed under a truck.

Although no-one succeeded last night, it is thought that up to 148 people made it to Britain after Monday’s incident.

Britain’s home secretary Theresa May confirmed that “a number” of people crossed the border, adding that the French and British governments needed to work with Eurotunnel to quickly address the issue.

Speaking at the Home Office, Mrs May said: “Crucially what we are looking at now is improving security at the

railhead at Coquelles, so we can ensure people are not trying to come through the tunnel.

“That means some urgent work in government but also with Eurotunnel, and Eurotunnel has a role to play here in the measures they themselves put in place to protect their trains.”

However, a spokesman for Groupe Eurotunnel, which manages and operates the Channel Tunnel, said that since the arrival of migrants in the area around Calais, it has invested more than €160 million (£113m), including €13m (£9.2m) in the first six months of 2015, in physical resources – fences, cameras, infra-red detectors – and personnel.

The spokesman also said that Eurotunnel has kept the Intergovernmental Commission for the Channel Tunnel and authorities informed, over several months, about the “explosion” in the number of migrants present in Calais.

Speaking after chairing a Cobra meeting, Mrs May said the government was pressing for rapid installation of the new security fencing at Coquelles.

When asked if the military should be used, she replied: “This is about ensuring we get that security fencing up, it’s about working with Eurotunnel to ensure we have got the best measures in place.”

French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced that France would be temporarily deploying two mobile units, or 120 additional police staff, in Calais “in order to contribute to the security of the site”.

Labour MP Keith Vaz, who chairs the Home Affairs Select Committee, said he had witnessed 148 migrants successfully make the journey illegally to England yesterday morning.

Kent Police said Operation Stack – where freight traffic is parked on the M20 when cross-Channel crossings are disrupted – is expected to last into the weekend.

Sailings from the Port of Dover continued, with P&O Ferries running full services to Calais and DFDS operating a full schedule to Dunkirk and Calais.