Date: Sat, 10 Oct 2015 21:36:09 +0200
Lille (France) (AFP) - A 17-year-old from Eritrea was seriously injured Friday after making an apparent bid to jump on a Eurotunnel shuttle from France to Britain, a firefighter said, adding that his life was not in danger.
"For an unknown reason, an Eritrean fell from a bridge at the Eurotunnel site. He hit a catenary, landed on the roof of a shuttle, and then fell onto the platform," a firefighter told AFP.
"He has second and third degree burns on 30 percent of his body, specifically on his back and a leg. He is in serious condition but his life is not in danger," the firefighter said, adding that the teenager was being treated in a hospital in Calais.
There are some 3,500 to 4,000 migrants and refugees, mainly from east Africa, the Middle East and Afghanistan, in the northern French port city of Calais and its surroundings, while another 1,000 are in the area of Dunkirk near the Belgian border.
They live in hope of reaching Britain, which they see as a promised land of jobs and freedom. Nearly every day there are attempts to jump on trucks or on shuttles travelling to Britain.