Finger pointing

Eurostar has rejected suggestions by Eurotunnel that the rail service violated safety rules during the evacuation of the stranded passengers by asking passengers to bring their bags with them.

On Saturday Eurostar maintained that passenger safety was never compromised during the ordeal and called on Eurotunnel to wait until the results of an independent review are released before making accusations.

"We are concerned that Eurotunnel has misunderstood the nature of the independent review which has the backing of both the British and French governments…and will establish the truth once and for all," Eurostar said in a statement, urging Eurotunnel to "allow the panel of experts to get on with the review and let the facts speak for themselves."

Some 2,000 passengers were forced to evacuated five Eurostar trains after snow in the engine compartments led to short circuits and train breakdowns. Some passengers spent up to 16 hours trapped in the Channel Tunnel, which runs under the English Channel and connects Britain with continental Europe.

On Friday Eurotunnel released a statement laying most of the blame for the handling of the incident as well as its cause on Eurostar.

"All the evidence shows that Eurotunnel was not the cause of the breakdowns and not responsible for Eurostar's customer relations, and that our teams worked quickly and professionally outside of their normal roles," Eurotunnel said. The company added that the evacuation "was unfortunately extended because the Eurostar team, in complete violation of the safety procedures, asked passengers to take their bags with them."

The breakdowns led Eurostar to suspend it's service for three days, stranding thousands of passengers in London and Paris, and led French President Nicolas Sarkozy to demand an explanation.

The independent inquiry into the breakdowns is to be released late next month.

hf/AFP/dpa/Reuters
Editor: Andreas Illmer