A high-speed Eurostar train exits the Channel tunnel in Coquelles, near Calais (Reuters / Christian Hartmann)
London (CNN) – The tunnel that runs under the English Channel between England and France was closed Tuesday afternoon, cutting off a key link between the European continent and the British Isles.
All traffic was suspended starting at 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET), because protesters broke into the tunnel entry site in France and set tires on fire, a Eurotunnel press officer told CNN. He declined to give his name.
Eurotunnel — Groupe Eurotunnel SE — manages the channel tunnel, sometimes referred to as the Chunnel, earning money from the Eurostar passenger train service and trains owned by other companies that use the passageway.
Would-be passengers trying to contact Eurotunnel got a recorded message saying, “Our passenger service is temporarily suspended.”
The Eurostar train service shut down operations completely. “We have been advised by Eurotunnel that we will be unable to run any services for the rest of the day. Normal services will resume tomorrow,” said a statement on the Eurostar website.
The tunnel runs about 31 miles from a point near Calais, in northern France, to Folkestone, in southeastern England.
People jumping into semitrailers
Video of the French entry point showed trucks backed up and people running and jumping into the trailers.
Calais has for years been a gathering place for migrants trying to find a way into the UK — a part of the European Union but not part of the passport-free Schengen Area.
But the Eurotunnel spokesman said he could not confirm that migrants were jumping into the trailers of the backed-up trucks because it was not happening on ground managed by Eurotunnel.
The Eurostar statement said the closure of the tunnel was due to a strike by MyFerryLink workers from the port of Calais, blocking the tracks with rubble and burning tires. They were reportedly protesting anticipated job losses on ferries.
Phone calls to the company offices in the UK went unanswered late Tuesday afternoon.
The Eurotunnel spokesman said traffic through the tunnel would return to normal shortly.
