Multiple investigations under way as grim details of `serious' fire emerge

FRENCH officials and Eurotunnel, the company which operates the rail tunnel beneath the English Channel, yesterday tried to put a brave face on Monday night's train fire.

"Eurotunnel immediately took control of the situation," Mr Benoit Parayre, spokesman for the French Ministry of Transport said. "The rescue was quick, calm and efficient." The company had carried out a rescue exercise just 10 days before the fire.

Eight people were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. The two most seriously affected, a woman 7 1/2 months pregnant and the train driver, spent several hours on intravenous drips to purify their blood.

The rescue team arrived within 10 minutes.

Passengers in poor condition were evacuated - by French ambulances using the central service path, which opens onto the two rail tunnels every 300 metres. The fire occurred 17 km from the entrance of the 50 km long tunnel, on the French side of the channel.

Ms Annabelle Salmon, a spokeswoman for Eurotunnel, said the company will carry out its own inquiry - in addition to the investigation begun on Monday by local French authorities.

"It was a serious fire and it smouldered for a long time," she said. "It destroyed five railroad wagons, 15 lorries, about 200 metres of tunnel. The catenary - the overhead power supply system was severely damaged."

A Franco-British inter-governmental commission will conduct a third investigation.

Ms Salmon said there was no evidence of arson but that the company does not yet know how the fire started. Enclosed wagons carrying cars and passengers are equipped with a halon-solution fire extinguishing system. The open wagons which carry lorries have no such system.

"With the lorries, the intention was to get them out of the tunnel and then put the fire out," Ms Salmon said.

Eurotunnel is giving priority to the restoration of the high-speed Paris-London Eurostar train service. This was initially scheduled to resume on Monday afternoon, but by early evening no trains were running. It will take weeks to repair the damage from the fire.

Insurance will compensate the company for lost traffic, but it may take longer to restore public confidence.

The £8 billion project is £6 billion in debt and is the subject of insider trading investigations in Paris and London.

Agencies report: The man who prevented total panic among the 31 passengers and three crew was chef de train, Mr Emile Gerard (43). He made those on board soak paper serviettes and hold them over their faces as toxic smoke swept into the shuttle train's passenger compartment. Later, he was able to lead people into the safety of the service tunnel that runs between the two rail tunnels.

As the investigations got under way, it emerged that the French emergency services took more than an hour to alert English fire crews to the blaze. The first English crews arrived two hours after the fire started. About 100 firefighters from stations in Folkestone, Dover, Hythe and Ashford were called on to support the permanent crews based at the tunnel entrance. The extreme heat meant crews could only tackle the blaze for a maximum of 10 minutes before being withdrawn. Specially adapted vehicles transported fire crews through the service tunnel and a ventilation system was activated to dispel the thick, black smoke.