Advertisement

Migrant killed under British tour bus in Calais

Joshua Melvin
Joshua Melvin - [email protected]
Migrant killed under British tour bus in Calais
A migrant (not shown here) was killed by a British tour bus in Calais. Photo: Philippe Huguen/AFP

In the latest tragic case that highlights the dangerous risks migrants are willing to take to reach the UK from northern France, an African teen was crushed under a British bus he’d hoped would take him across the Channel.

Advertisement

An 18-year-old Sudanese man crawled under a Britain-bound bus in an attempt to smuggle himself to the UK, but was killed when the vehicle rolled over him.

The incident occured on Friday around 2pm in the car park of an Auchan supermarket in Calais, according French daily La Voix du Nord. It appears the young man, whose name was not released, had tried to cling to the underside of the bus.

When the driver parked the bus at the market, the young man apparently fell and was crushed under one of the wheels. He was apparently well-known to local humanitarian aid workers in Calais.

It’s just the latest death involving migrants’ desperate efforts to get across the Channel by any means necessary. La Voix du Nord said, according to its count, seven migrants have been killed since the start of the year.

Earlier in May an Eritrean died after jumping from a moving lorry after he realized it was not going toward the UK. Another Eritrean drowned in a canal in Calais in mid-March.

This news comes just days after the top administrative authority in Calais announced several migrant camps would be dismantled after an outbreak of the skin infection scabies. Humanitarian groups believe the expelled migrants will wind up living on the streets, further worsening their situation.

Calais has for years attracted migrants hoping to reach the United Kingdom and its perceived more generous policy toward refugees. Over the years, local authorities have periodically cleared out the camps, yet the migrants, hoping for a better life, keep coming.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also