Teenager killed at Channel Tunnel's French entrance

A teenager has been killed by a freight train near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel linking France and Britain, French police said Thursday.

The boy, thought to be from east Africa and in his mid- to late-teens, was found unconscious in the early hours of Thursday morning near rail tracks leading to the tunnel, which is a route used by refugees to reach the UK.

A spokesman for the police in the Pas-de-Calais region said an investigation was underway.

The death is the second around the tunnel in less than a week and the 18th since June, according to French medical organisation Medecins du Monde. Last week, a refugee was electrocuted in Channel Tunnel en route to UK.

Thousands of refugees have set up a campsite near the mouth of the tunnel as they try to stowaway on UK-destined trucks or trains running under the English Channel. They are part of Europe’s wider crisis that has seen 500,000 refugees enter the EU since the beginning of the year. Their efforts to gain access to UK-destined trucks or the train services have led to 16 deaths since June according to Medecins du Monde, as well as massive delays on roads leading to the tunnel.