Twelve hours of nightmare. A 25-year-old Syrian national was found this Monday, November 10, after being trapped in the gutter of a shopping center in Coquelles, (Pas-de-Calais), reports the daily Northern Voices. The man called for help around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, in a state of panic. However, the cellphone battery ran out quickly. The teams deployed to find him – firefighters, police and Channel Tunnel agents – failed to find a trace of him.
Only after twelve hours had passed, the young man was found this Monday morning. Wounded in the elbow and suffering from hypothermia, he was transferred to Calais hospital. The circumstances under which he became trapped in the sewers of the Cité Europe shopping center remain unknown for now.
In Coquelles – a town of 2,500 where the Channel Tunnel terminal is located – and in neighboring towns, there live several thousand migrants, mainly Sudanese, Eritreans, Afghans and Syrians, waiting to leave for Britain.
As devices intended to block their paths become increasingly powerful, illegal crossings are becoming increasingly dangerous. At least 27 people have died this year trying to cross the French-English border, according to a count made by AFP based on official data.
