Migrants hid under Eiffel coach

THREE migrants who reportedly wanted to get into the UK have been caught hiding in the undercarriage of tourist coaches at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

The vehicles were parked on Avenue Gustave Eiffel on Thursday evening, an area that typically is teeming with tourists and parked coaches.

The three individuals were spotted by the coach drivers while the passengers were visiting the tower.

“The migrants were found hiding under the buses and hanging in the wheel arch. Our driver approached the local authorities as soon as he noticed,” Hemang Shah, the director of Star Tours, told The Daily Telegraph.

Police sources told Le Parisien newspaper that the three migrants, aged between 15 and 22 and from Eritrea and Sudan, had hoped to take the buses all the way to the UK, but were taken by police to a local detention centre “without incident”.

‘We’ve told drivers to keep the bus locked but someone in the undercarriage is beyond our control’

Police have refused to comment officially on the matter. “We are not giving any further details about this case,” Raphaël Biron of the Paris police said.

While police sources told the French media that the case was “a first” in terms of migrants taking advantage of tourist coaches in Paris, tour bus workers told a different story.

Mr Shah said that buses with his customers have had similar incidents at the Eiffel Tower this year.

He said several months ago, some migrants made it all the way from the tower to a hotel on the capital’s outskirts before fleeing.

“We’ve told all our drivers to keep an eye out and to keep the bus locked, but if someone’s in the undercarriage then it’s beyond our control,” he said.

Since the Calais “Jungle” camp closed, hundreds of migrants have amassed in Paris, prompting the city’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, to call for more welcome-centres elsewhere around the country.