Tunnel smoke stops Eurostar trains for day

The tunnel connecting Britain and France beneath the English Channel closed Saturday because of smoke emanating from a truck, officials said.
The problem halted all passenger service in the Channel Tunnel, including the high-speed Eurostar trains from London to Paris and Brussels and the Eurotunnel vehicle shuttle, officials said early Saturday afternoon.

"Today's incident ... was an issue with a lorry on one of the Eurotunnel shuttles," Eurotunnel representative Romain Dufour said.

No injuries were immediately reported at the 50-kilometer tunnel.

The Eurostar trains will not run for the rest of Saturday, a company representative said, adding that the incident stopped about two-thirds of the day's scheduled service.

 
The Eurotunnel shuttle that conveys customers and their vehicles is expected to resume service Saturday evening in the England-to-France portion of the tunnel, though the reverse route won't open until Sunday morning, Dufour said.