Eurostar flooding leaves 30,000 passengers stranded
A EUROSTAR meltdown left 30,000 furious passengers – including a family from Dublin – stranded as travel chaos and storms risk wrecking New Year’s Eve plans for millions of people. Flooding hit the major tunnel connecting Britain to Europe, sparking cancellations of all 41 services and leaving families in tears as they cancelled getaways to Paris. Heavy rain, snow and gusts of 120kph were also due to hit Britain last night, threatening more rail chaos and road closures across the country.
Yesterday, huge throngs of travellers bound for the continent littered London St Pancras International as they desperately tried to find alternative routes to their destinations. Luana Andrade, 36, and her husband Rondi Oroujo, 32, feared they would be left on the capital’s streets with their three-year-old son.
Ms Andrade said they were ‘trying not to be homeless with children in the cold London night’, adding: ‘London is really expensive and we don’t have an Airbnb to stay at tonight.’ The family live in Dublin and were planning to travel to France. Mr Oroujo said: ‘We’re going to have to rearrange everything. I don’t think we are going to be able to spend New Year’s Eve in Paris because even if we get a flight for tomorrow... we’re going to get there at like 10pm or 11pm.’
Trouble struck on Friday night as water burst from a fire control system and filled tunnels at Ebbsfleet International in Kent. Every service was cancelled as a result. A Eurostar spokesman said: ‘Eurostar is extremely sorry for the unforeseen issues affecting customers today but safety remains our number one priority.
‘We understand this is a vital time to get home ahead of New Year and we are supporting customers in stations.’