Thread by @IrishMirror

Passengers on the Eurotunnel undersea train have told of "utter carnage" after being trapped under the English Channel for nearly five hours.

(THREAD) 🧵

💬It happened after a train broke down in scenes they have described as "like a disaster movie".

irishmirror.ie/news/world-new…

🚄They were transferred to a cargo train but complained of being stuck in the sub-sea tunnel for nearly five hours, citing issues with the replacement transport as travellers were seen "panicking" and "freaking out" in the confined space.

🇫🇷 The initial breakdown late on Tuesday affected the 3.50pm Eurotunnel Le Shuttle service from Calais to Folkestone and led to hundreds of passengers being ushered into a service tunnel, Mirror UK reports.

irishmirror.ie/news/world-new…

📹Videos on social media showed holidaymakers walking through the alternate tunnel alongside the 31-mile rail route between Britain and France, some with suitcases and dogs.

https://twitter.com/ne23614114/status/1562192297454104583?s=20&t=d5WaDmK815aWDhC425V4Ng

🇫🇷 Meanwhile travellers in Calais were told to stay away from the terminal until 6am on Wednesday, with pictures showing gridlock at the shuttle terminal late into Tuesday evening.

irishmirror.ie/news/world-new…

💬Sarah Fellows, 37, from Birmingham, will have taken 18 hours to return home from a family holiday in France after the "utter carnage" of the evacuation.

She said: "The service tunnel was terrifying. It was like a disaster movie."

💬"You were just walking into the abyss not knowing what was happening. We all had to stay under the sea in this big queue. Fire and rescue were there."

irishmirror.ie/news/world-new…

💬"There was a woman crying in the tunnel, another woman having a panic attack who was travelling alone. They were expecting really older people to walk for a mile down the middle of a tunnel under the sea."

💬"It was utter carnage when we arrived in Folkestone as they hadn't really prepared for us arriving. It just wasn't organised of how to evacuate that train."

irishmirror.ie/news/world-new…

💬"I was panicking at one point and Border Force told us the tunnel had been evacuated one other time in the last 17 years, not recently."

💬A spokesman for Eurotunnel Le Shuttle said: "A train has broken down in the tunnel and we are in the process of transferring customers to a separate passenger shuttle via the service tunnel, to return to our Folkestone terminal.

irishmirror.ie/news/world-new…

💬"We apologise sincerely for this inconvenience."

The spokesman added: "Due to the earlier train fault, we advise you not to travel to the terminal tonight.

"Please arrive after 6am tomorrow."

🤔Is this your idea of a nightmare?

🗞️Full story and the experiences of other passengers 🔽

irishmirror.ie/news/world-new…