Trains running through tunnel again

The Channel Tunnel re-opens following a blaze which closed the passageway between England and France.

Eurostar high speed trains should soon be operating on a reduced service in the Channel Tunnel.

Freight trains were rolling again through the undersea tunnel between France and England, and some passenger service was to resume later today after firemen extinguished an intense blaze. The blaze broke out on Thursday afternoon and was extinguished by midday yesterday. Firemen worked through the night, enduring extreme temperatures and cramped quarters as they put out the blaze deep under the English Channel. Operator Eurotunnel said traffic resumed yesterday in one of two tunnels and high-speed Eurostar passenger trains that also use the tunnel would resume a reduced service this morning. The fire left the British Isles cut off for more than a day from continental Europe other than by sea or air. Firemen painstakingly worked toward each other from separate ends in France and Britain to combat the blaze, which broke out aboard one of the trains that travel through the 50km tunnel, transporting lorries and holidaymakers' cars. Firemen spent no more than 15 minutes at a time inside the tunnel, because of the intense temperatures of up to 1,000C.

Five of 14 people injured remained in hospitals yesterday, said the prosecutor Gerald Lesigne, who was investigating the blaze. Officials said some people had inhaled large quantities of smoke while others hurt their hands by breaking the train's windows to escape. Officials appeared to rule out terrorism as a cause of the blaze, one of the most serious incidents in the history of the tunnel that has made day trips between Paris and London possible by high-speed train. The French transportation minister, Dominique Bussereau, said the fire "likely resembles something accidental", without elaborating. The Eurotunnel CEO Jacques Gounon said he had no reason to believe the fire could have been criminal.

* AP