The key facts
- 19 injured: two seriously (including the minibus driver, airlifted to Lille), 17 lightly; no threat to life
- Collision with a departing train on the platform in Coquelles at 19:27 local time; around 200 emergency responders involved
- First such incident on the Eurotunnel loading platform — Calais sub-prefect Agathe Curie; a judicial investigation has been opened
Collision on the Loading Platform
On Thursday evening, 15 October 2026, a minibus carrying lorry drivers to board the Le Shuttle service veered off course and struck the side of a train on the loading platform of the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles, near Calais. According to the Pas-de-Calais prefecture, the collision occurred at 19:27 local time. Calais sub-prefect Agathe Curie said two trains were on the platform: one was being loaded with lorries ahead of its journey, while the other, already loaded, was departing. According to her, for a reason not yet established, the minibus collided with the departing train. The vehicle did not overturn.
The Injured
19 people were injured — the minibus driver and 18 passengers, all men of various nationalities; the driver, according to local authorities, was a Eurotunnel employee. Two people, including the driver, sustained serious injuries with no threat to life and were airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in Lille; the others were taken to nearby hospitals. Deutsche Welle notes that the prefect revised down the initial reports of five seriously injured. It is unknown whether any British citizens were among the injured.
Emergency Response and Investigation
Around 200 emergency personnel arrived at the scene, including ambulances, helicopters and police. Agathe Curie stated that this was the first incident of its kind on the Eurotunnel loading platform, and that a judicial investigation has been opened to establish the cause of the accident. The newspaper La Voix du Nord published photographs of the minibus with damage to the front and side next to the train.
Traffic Through the Tunnel
Traffic of car shuttles through the tunnel was suspended for about 90 minutes and gradually resumed late in the evening. According to the BBC, Eurostar freight and passenger services were not interrupted after a brief halt to evacuate the injured. Eurostar said the incident occurred several kilometres from the tunnel and does not affect its trains: all services to and from London are running on schedule. At the same time, according to DW, the last two Paris–London trains were cancelled; the company attributed this to engineering works rather than the accident. A witness, BBC journalist Evan Davis, who was travelling through the tunnel at the time of the incident, reported that vehicles at the check-in booth were not being delayed.
About the Tunnel
The 50-kilometre Eurotunnel has connected Coquelles on the French side and Folkestone in England since 1994; the operator is the company Getlink. Several hundred trains of three types pass through the tunnel daily: Eurostar passenger trains, freight trains and Le Shuttle, which carries cars. Last year 3.4 million cars travelled through the tunnel; Eurostar, according to the company, carried 11.8 million passengers in 2025.
Image source, AFP via Getty Images
Trains near the French entrance to the Channel Tunnel (file image)
