Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

MIGRANT

Migrant almost walks to UK through Tunnel

A migrant arrested inside the Channel Tunnel connecting England and France is thought to have walked almost all of the treacherous 50-kilometre (31-mile) undersea rail link, reports said Thursday.

Published: 7 August 2015 09:00 CEST
Migrant almost walks to UK through Tunnel
A migrant walks along the tracks heading towards the Channel Tunnel. Photo: AFP

The Sudanese man was arrested close to the British entrance and “almost succeeded in walking through the tunnel”, a spokesman for owner Eurotunnel told BBC News.

A spike in the numbers of migrants trying to make the crossing has become a sensitive political issue in Britain, and the story was splashed across the front pages of Friday's newspapers.

A spokesman for Britain's Home Office said it had improved security by paying for more fencing at the French side and drafting in border guards and dogs.

“We continue to work closely with the French government and Eurotunnel to tackle the immediate pressures and longer-term issues involved in the situation in northern France,” the spokesman said.

Police in Kent, the county where the tunnel emerges, said that 40-year-old Abdul Rahman Haroun had been arrested and charged with causing an obstruction to an engine or carriage.

The Daily Telegraph reported that ministers were considering closing the tunnel to freight and passenger trains at night in response to the crisis.

Eurotunnel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

HERO

Could street hawker hero be rewarded with Spanish residency and a right to work?

Residents in Denia have launched a petition calling for Gorgui Lamine Sow, the undocumented migrant who leapt into a burning building to save a disabled man, to be rewarded for his heroic deed.

Published: 11 December 2019 13:17 CET
Could street hawker hero be rewarded with Spanish residency and a right to work?
Gorgui Lamine Sow was presented with a Superman T-shirt by the man he saved. Photo: Gorgiou Lamine Sow

A petition registered on change.org is lobbying for Lamine, who arrived from Senegal by boat two years ago, to be given residency and work papers in recognition of his saving the life of Alex Caudeli on Friday.

Lamine scaled a wall and entered the burning building, lifted Caudeli, who is unable to walk following a long illness, over his shoulder and brought him to safety after a heater caused a fire in his first floor room.

But as quickly as he had appeared, he vanished; before anyone had a chance to thank him or find out his name.  

The Local tracked him down on Monday thanks to Roberta Etter, who lives next door to Caudeli and witnessed the extraordinary rescue.


Gorgui Lamine Sow carried Alex Caudeli over his shoulder to safety. Photo: Roberta Etter

The 20-year-old shared details of his life describing how he lived in one drafty room with his girlfriend, Gana, and seven-month-old daughter Ndye, and that as a family they travelled 40km each day by bus from Gandia to eek out a living selling bracelets in Denia’s port.

On Tuesday he was more positive saying reaction to his story had been huge and he hoped it might result in regularization and a more steady life for him and his family.

“I hope to get papers and a home so we can live here peacefully in Spain,” he told The Local by telephone.

“I’d really like to be a truck driver,” he revealed.

Just as the petition was launched, the mayor of Denia said he has asked the central government to fast track residency for Lamine and local media reported that the request is currently being analysed.

Denia’s town hall also plans a ceremony to recognise Lamine with a bravery award.

On Tuesday Lamine met the man whose life he saved. Caudeli, who was discharged from hospital on Monday after being treated for burns, had bandages on his face and hands

“It was great to meet him and see him doing ok,” Lamine told The Local after the meeting. “He gave me a superman T-shirt and one for the baby.”

It's not the first time that a heroic act changed the life of an illegal immigrant.  Last year France awarded citizenship to Mamoudou Gassama, an immigrant from Mali who scaled an apartment building in Paris to save a child clinging to the outside of a balcony. He is now a firefighter.

To sign the petition CLICK HERE

READ ALSO:  

SHOW COMMENTS