Photo: Migrants walk along railway tracks at the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais-Frethun. (AFP: Philippe Huguen)
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One person has been found dead following another attempt by 1,500 migrants to enter the Eurotunnel terminal in the French port town of Calais, a police source said.
"Our team found a corpse this morning (local time) and the fire-fighters have confirmed the death of this person," a Eurotunnel spokesman said.
The migrant, a man of Sudanese origin believed to be aged between 25 and 30, was hit by a truck that was leaving a cross-Channel ferry, the police source said.
The latest fatality brings the number of migrants who died near the Channel Tunnel terminal site to nine since June.
"Everything happened overnight, and at 6:00am (local time), the police still have quite a lot of work to do," the police source said, adding that "between 500 and 1,000 migrants" were still around the tunnel site.
The overnight attempts at storming the Eurotunnel terminal came just hours after thousands of migrants sought to enter the site on Tuesday, in what was described as the "biggest incursion effort in the past month and a half".
Photo: Migrants gather near the Eurotunnel terminal to try to climb in a shuttle heading to Great Britain. (AFP: Philippe Huguen)
The incident caused serious delays to the Eurotunnel service for much of Tuesday, with passengers held up for around an hour on the British side and 30 minutes on the French side.
"All our security personnel, that is nearly 200 people, as well as police were called in," the Eurotunnel spokesman said.
France's interior minister said 120 additional police officers would be sent to Calais to secure the Eurotunnel site.
Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Eurotunnel "must also take responsibility" for securing its premises.
"This is normal... I am not looking to start an argument," Mr Cazeneuve said, as tensions rose between Paris and the Eurotunnel group which manages the tunnel under the Channel.
"The state has multiplied the number of security forces managing the Calais situation by five since 2012."
For several weeks, there have been many attempts by large numbers of migrants to enter the Eurotunnel premises.
Eurotunnel said on Wednesday that it had blocked over 37,000 migrants trying to enter its French premises and make their way to Britain since January.
British prime minister David Cameron expressed concern over the latest attempt to storm the tunnel during his visit to Singapore.
"This is very concerning," he said, adding that Britain was "working very closely" with French authorities to address the situation.
Mr Cameron said Britain was "doing everything we can" to prevent such incidents, including investing in fencing around the area, adding he did not want to "point fingers at people to blame".
The Eurotunnel company itself is seeking 9.7 million euros ($14.64 million) from the British and French governments in compensation for disruption caused by illegal migrants.
AFP
