People have been evacuated from a broken-down Eurostar train in northern France after waiting nearly four hours for help, passengers have told the BBC.
One person who was on board said they had been stuck on the train without air conditioning before emergency services and local rescue teams arrived to hand out water.
James Grierson said he was evacuated alongside a number of “very frustrated” passengers, and there was “no sign” of a replacement train to collect them.
Eurostar has been approached for comment. It had earlier posted messages on social media urging passengers to remain in their seats and wait for a replacement train.
The train left Brussels at 08:52 local time (07:52 BST) and was due to arrive at London St Pancras International at 09:57 BST.
But the expected journey time of just over two hours has now stretched to more than five.
Mr Grierson said the train suffered “some electrical failing” 10 minutes outside of Calais. Other passengers told the BBC both engines on the train had broken down.
Eurostar has not yet commented on the cause of the delay.
Lidia Aviles, 38, from Brussels, said passengers were not allowed to leave the train for hours due to security concerns regarding people standing near the rails.
“Toilets were not working. This is terrible, especially for babies and elderly people,” she added.
Pictures from the scene show dozens of people stood outside the stationary train, along with rescuers in high-vis jackets – one carrying an armful of bottled water.
Several passengers have messaged Eurostar on X, complaining of no air conditioning, overflowing toilets and a lack of updates.
The rail operator has replied to some of these messages apologising and saying a replacement train has been arranged to pick them up.
