Quelle: The Guardian

Eritrean man in his 20s killed attempting to reach the UK is the fourth refugee death at port of Calais in two weeks

An Eritrean man in his 20s has been killed after he was run over by a freight train at the Channel tunnel in Calais as he attempted to find a way to reach the UK.

He was found dead by security staff at about 1am, the Calais police authority said. It is the fourth refugee death in the French port in the past two weeks, as people attempt to get to Britain by stowing away on lorries bound for ferries or accessing the tunnel entrance.

On Tuesday, a 20-year-old Iraqi man was found dead in a lorry near the port, having been crushed by pallets. At about 8am, the lorry driver had checked his load and found the man.

Last week, an African teenager, believed by officials to have been from Eritrea or Sudan, was hit by a freight train and killed near the Channel tunnel entrance.

A man who French officials presumed was Syrian was electrocuted near the tunnel entrance as he tried to climb on to the roof of a train the week before.

At least 13 refugees or migrants have now died at Calais since the end of June. More than 3,000 people from Syria, east Africa and Afghanistan are currently sleeping rough in insanitary conditions in a shanty town in Calais that aid workers have deemed a humanitarian crisis.

New security fences put up around the tracks have led to a drop in the number of attempts to break through to the Channel tunnel entrance. Eurotunnel has said the number of attempts have reduced from a peak of 2,000 a night to fewer than 150.