A minibus carrying truck drivers crashed into a train transporting vehicles through the busy Channel Tunnel between France and England has injured 19 people, French authorities said.
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The bus was heading toward the tunnel entrance in the town of Coquelles near Calais when it veered off course and struck the side of the shuttle train at 19:27 on Thursday, the prefecture said in a statement.
It was carrying lorry drivers due to take a shuttle rail service.
Two people, including the bus driver, were hospitalised with serious but not life-threatening injuries, while 17 others sustained minor injuries.
About 200 emergency responders and other personnel rushed to the scene. Vehicle shuttle service through the tunnel was suspended for 90 minutes before gradually resuming by late evening, authorities said.
Eurostar passenger trains and freight services were unaffected.
The injured victims were of multiple nationalities, and the relevant consulates have been notified, local sub-prefect Agathe Cury told reporters, without specifying which countries.
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Rare incident
All those injured had been aboard the bus, and all are men, Cury said.
"For a reason that currently remains unknown, the minibus collided with the departing train," she said.
"The bus did not overturn, it is still upright. But the shock and the collision caused injuries to the people involved."
An investigation was underway, she added.
Cury said it was "the first time an incident of this type has occurred" on an Eurotunnel loading platform.
The 50-km-long Channel Tunnel is the longest infrastructure of its kind in the world.
It has linked Coquelles in northern France and Folkestone in England since 1994.
Operated by Getlink, it is used by several hundred trains every day.
Last year it carried 3.4 million vehicles, along with millions of Eurostar passengers.
(with newswires)