Eurotunnel passengers in 'terrifying' hike under the Channel

'Agitated passengers left stranded for at least five hours under the Channel'

- Ross Lydall

EUROTUNNEL passengers have told of scenes "like a disaster movie" when they were forced to evacuate a train that had broken down under the English Channel.

Hundreds were forced to leave their vehicles and walk down a "terrifying" service tunnel to board a replacement train after an alarm sounded on a Calais to Folkestone service yesterday afternoon.

Passengers said it took six hours to reach the UK end of the 31-mile tunnel - a trip that normally takes less than 30 minutes. Sarah Fellows, 37, who was returning from a family holiday in France, said the evacuation was "utter carnage". She added: "The service tunnel was terrifying. It was like a disaster movie. You were just walking into the abyss not knowing what was happening. We all had to stay under the sea in this big queue.

"Fire and rescue were there. There was a woman crying in the tunnel, another woman having a panic attack who was travelling alone. They were expecting really older people to walk for a mile down the middle of a tunnel under the sea."