How migrant climbed four fences, dodged 400 security cameras - then RAN 31 miles through Channel Tunnel from Calais to Kent as 100mph trains roared by
- Man was almost at the end of the 31-mile long tunnel when he was caught
- He had scaled four security fences and dodged 400 surveillance cameras
- Ran in darkness through tunnel but sparked alarm 15 miles into the journey
- Abdul Rahman Haroun, 40, has been charged with obstructing the railway
A Sudanese migrant was arrested in Kent after he evaded security and ran through the Channel Tunnel from Calais.
Abdul
Rahman Haroun, 40, was almost at the end of the 31-mile long tunnel
when he was caught by police less than a mile from Folkestone on
Tuesday.
The
desperate migrant scaled four security fences and dodged 400
surveillance cameras before running in darkness through the tunnel -
used by Eurostar trains destined for Paris and Brussels - and was only
spotted when he set off an alarm 15 miles into his 'highly dangerous
journey'.
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A Sudanese migrant was arrested at the end of the Channel Tunnel in Kent after he evaded security in Calais (file image)
The desperate migrant scaled four
security fences and dodged 400 surveillance cameras before running in
darkness through the tunnel - used by Eurostar trains destined for Paris
and Brussels (file image)
UK
border police finally caught him as he was within sight of the tunnel
mouth in Cheriton, near Folkestone, after services were delayed by four
hours.
Eurotunnel
has previously warned that anyone trying to walk along the train lines
would almost certainly die, with risk from both high-speed trains and
potentially fatal electrical currents.
A
Eurotunnel spokesman added: 'This type of criminal intrusion into the
tunnel is extremely rare, as well as being both illegal and extremely
dangerous.
'Trains
travel through there from England at up to 100mph, and he could easily
have been struck. Usually migrants climb aboard Shuttle trains or
lorries, not run all the way through the tunnel.
'We are now investigating how he managed to evade all the different levels of security.'
The
spokesman said he had been found in one of the two railway tunnels
rather than the service tunnel which runs through the middle.
It
is believed the man, thought to be the first person to complete the
perilous journey, was part of 600 migrants who tried to storm the
Channel Tunnel terminal at Cocquelles in France on Monday evening.
He ran in darkness through the tunnel before he was stopped by UK border police a mile from the end in Kent
The crisis in Calais has escalated
recently as around 3,000 migrants massed on the northern French coast,
in a bid to storm the Eurotunnel site and cross (file image)
Kent
Police confirmed it was investigating the incident, which happened near
to the Channel Tunnel exit at Folkestone at 6.13pm on Tuesday.
Haroun,
40, of no fixed abode, appeared via video link at Medway Magistrates'
Court tonight charged with one count of trespassing on a railway line.
He withheld a plea and was told to reappear at Canterbury Crown Court on August 24.
He could face a prison sentence after being charged with obstructing a train but is, however, still able to claim asylum.
A
Kent Police spokesman added: 'It is understood a Home Office
Immigration Enforcement are also investigating this incident in a
separate enquiry.'
The
ease with which he avoided police and Eurotunnel officials will again
raise serious questions about the migrant chaos at the French border.
MPs described security at the tunnel entrance in Calais as ‘very disturbing’.
A source close to Eurotunnel said the company was dealing with up to 1,000 ‘migrant incursions’ a day.
He
added: ‘Most are apprehended before they enter the tunnel and they
don’t get far if they make it inside. The French don’t prosecute,
however.’
Haroun’s
decision to undertake the potentially fatal journey on foot is further
evidence of the extraordinary lengths migrants are willing to go.
A
security source said Haroun’s venture through the tunnel acted as a
‘snapshot of how badly the French authorities have handled the
situation’.
‘It is absolutely remarkable he was able to get through when you consider that the tunnel is 50km long,’ he said.
‘He would have had to dodge trains and duck and dive, so it is quite the achievement.’
It is believed the man was part of 600 migrants who tried to storm the Channel Tunnel terminal at Cocquelles in on Monday
Police officers search for migrants under a bridge in Calais, which is close to a fence by the Eurotunnel site
Haroun’s
journey began at 7.30am on Tuesday when a security alert was triggered
close to the entrance of one of the two train tunnels in Coquelles, near
Calais.
The
entrance was immediately shut as Eurotunnel sent security guards to
join police officers in detecting the intruders. But despite the search,
the migrant was able to make his way into the tunnel without further
detection.
The
tunnel closure left holidaymakers and haulage firms stranded for hours,
but the only excuse offered by Eurotunnel was that the issue had been
caused by an ‘anomaly’.
It
was only after Haroun was charged in the UK yesterday that the company
admitted its part in the migrant’s easy passage into the tunnel.
After
evading the initial attempts to find him, Haroun was able to make his
way through the 31-mile tunnel in complete darkness as trains hurtled
past at more than 100mph.
He
was forced to bear incredibly high temperatures, altered air pressure
and roaring noise from trains as he walked along the narrow walkways at
either side of the tracks. The walkways are designed for emergency
evacuation when no trains are running, and he would only have been able
to grab a handrail on the tunnel wall to stop himself being dragged
under a passing train.
When
his presence triggered an alarm at the tunnel’s halfway mark, the
French sent a test-train equipped with strong lights to find him. It
failed, however, and he was eventually arrested after being detected on a
camera after crossing on to English territory.
A worker fixes damaged fences, which have been scaled by migrants as the crisis in Calais escalated in the last few weeks
The incident is another setback for the British Government, which claimed the migrant crisis had ‘peaked’.
Foreign
Secretary Philip Hammond prompted controversy when he said measures to
stop migrants breaking into the Eurotunnel terminal were ‘having an
effect’.
Damian
Collins, MP for Folkestone, said: ‘It is an extremely serious breach of
security. The tunnel should be monitored by cameras to pick this up. It
is very disturbing that he wasn’t.’
Ukip MP Douglas Carswell said: ‘The UK Government needs to take ownership and responsibility over what is going on.
'The Foreign Secretary said this week he had a grip when he very clearly hasn’t.’
The
crisis in Calais has escalated recently as around 3,000 migrants massed
on the northern French coast, in a bid to storm the Eurotunnel site and
cross.
Many
have taken increasingly dangerous risks to dodge security and get into
the UK and nine people have been killed in their attempts.
Earlier
this year, two migrants were plucked to safety from the English Channel
after trying to climb aboard a moving ferry off Calais.
The
desperate refugees had swam almost half a mile from shore in a bid to
clamber onto the vast 180m-long vessel heading to Dover.
Migrants
have also risked their lives by smuggling themselves into refrigerated
lorries, clinging to the axles of HGVs and even aboard a cargo of
coffins.
This week hundreds of people were caught trying to jump onto lorries boarding ferries bound for Britain.
It
was a clear change of tactic for the migrants, who in recent weeks had
focused their efforts to reach Britain on the Channel Tunnel terminal in
Calais.
Meanwhile
Eurotunnel authorities have been left struggling to source extra
fencing needed to protect the site after French factory workers went on
holiday.
New
razor wire fencing was put up in recent days, but desperately-needed
supplies are running thin with factories across the channel closed or
running minimal staff since July 15, it has been reported.
The
French have promised boosting police numbers on the border and the
desperately needed extra fencing funded by the UK is to be installed
around much of the Eurotunnel perimeter.
This includes higher boundaries and extra layers where necessary and a large metal barrier to protect Eurotunnel platforms.
A migrant helps another man through a small gap in the fence in the hope they will be able to cross over into Britain for asylum
There are currently some 5,000 illegal
migrants in the French port and they seem to be using any opportunity
they can to get to the UK
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