Army descend on Folkestone Eurotunnel terminal following bomb threat

KentOnline / KMTV

Following severe delays, all Le Shuttle services have started running again. The incident is not being linked to the on-going search for escaped prisoner Daniel Khalife.

Transcript

00:00 First tonight, explosive experts and the British Army have been called to the Eurotunnel terminal

00:05 today following reports of a suspicious vehicle. All the shuttle services have started running

00:11 again in the past hour but there are still severe delays. The incident is not being linked

00:17 to the ongoing search for escaped prisoner Daniel Khalif. Gabriel Morris joins me live

00:22 now in Folkestone. Gabriel, what more do we know this evening?

00:26 Well, Abbie, it's been another day of delays, particularly on the M20 with BROC Zero in

00:33 force and the incident earlier today at the Eurotunnel. However, I have to say things

00:39 are looking up. You can see the traffic is starting to clear in the last hour or so.

00:44 Services have resumed on the shuttle services. But this incident all happened at 10.30am

00:51 this morning. A suspicious vehicle was stopped at the Channel Tunnel terminal here in Folkestone.

00:57 Explosive experts and the British Army attended the scene and a cordon was in place. A fire

01:02 examination was carried out and a remote bomb vehicle was brought into the scene to deal

01:09 with that car in question. Now, the cordon has now been lifted this evening and a man

01:15 who was detained in connection with the incident has been interviewed and released pending

01:20 further inquiries. So the incident might now be cleared, but there are still some delays.

01:27 There are passengers trying to get onto the Eurotunnel services this evening. And I was

01:33 here about two hours ago when the chaos was taking place. And I saw many tourists and

01:40 commuters using the Eurotunnel services, climbing up into a shelter up in the trees and the

01:47 wooded areas, particularly if they had dogs as well. I also witnessed some passengers

01:53 making their way, walking towards the Eurotunnel terminal to get some refreshments and drinks,

01:58 bringing them back to the cars. So it is good news for them. We've been speaking to Jim

02:05 Martin who is the Green Party leader and also the leader at Folkestone and Hive District

02:11 Council. He says it hasn't been an ideal day for passengers, but this incident search was

02:18 needed. When the security forces think they've found a bomb, they have to take action. And

02:26 that action has to be very prompt and it has to be very thorough. And, you know, I can

02:32 tell you from working closely with these people, they are prompt, they are thorough, they are

02:39 completely professional and they would not have closed the Eurotunnel depot on a whim.

02:46 So you know, it is a problem. It's a problem for everyone, for residents, visitors, travellers,

02:54 everyone trying to get home tonight from Folkestone has got a problem.

02:58 Well, the incident might now be clearing here at the Channel Tunnel entrance. And police

03:06 are keen to say this is not believed to be in relation to the ongoing manhunt for Daniel

03:12 Khalif. Now, there are increased checks taking place here at the Eurotunnel terminal. They

03:17 are searching everybody's boots, but also at the port of Dover, where they say it is

03:22 manageable and there are enhanced checks taking place. Now, because of those enhanced checks,

03:27 they have brought in Brock Zero. That was brought in around yesterday lunchtime and

03:31 it remains in force today. That's in place between junctions 8 and 9, so from Leeds Castle

03:36 down to Ashford. Now, unlike Operation Brock, it only allows freight traffic heading to

03:43 the EU to travel coastbound. Any other cars, passengers, regardless of heading to the port

03:48 or not, have to take a diversion. Now, when I made my way down here to come down to the

03:54 Eurotunnel today, I was coming down from Medway. I had to take the diversion, essentially going

03:58 down the M2, down the A2, and I have to say, those routes were more congested than usual.

04:03 And particularly, there was a lot of traffic going through some of the smaller villages

04:09 in the rural parts of Kent, quite likely due to those diversions. Now, it's not clear when

04:16 Brock Zero will be lifted. It seems that it will be going in to tomorrow night. Now, the

04:23 National Highway said they have been working alongside with Kent Police, the Met Police

04:27 and the Kent Resilience Forum, to help ease traffic and stack the lorries heading to the

04:34 port. Now, in the manhunt for Daniel Califf, he has escaped prisoner from Wandsworth Prison.

04:39 He is still missing. We're going in to our third evening now of him being missing. In

04:44 the past hour, Met Police say there will be a £20,000 reward if he is found.

04:49 I'm not going to.

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