LONDON, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- The operators of a tunnel carrying rail traffic between Britain and Europe Wednesday called for the closure of a French camp holding illegal immigrants after hundreds of its inmates stormed into the undersea passage in a bid to enter Britain.
French police arrested at least 150 migrants who got into the tunnel and were caught walking toward Britain. They used teargas to disperse another 400 who tried to break through security barriers during a holiday lull in rail traffic.
The incident on Christmas evening disrupted traffic for several hours and stranded holiday makers from Britain and continental Europe.
Officials said the disruption would have been greater but Eurostar passenger train services were closed for the holiday, with only cars and buses allowed aboard freight trains.
Eurotunnel operators blamed France's refusal to close Sangatte, a Red Cross center holding more than 1,500 asylum seekers only a mile away from the French entrance to the tunnel.
"We have spent £5 million ($7.5 million) on security arrangements so far and the government has done nothing and left us in this situation where we have a refugee center two kilometers from the tunnel," Eurotunnel spokesman Kevin Charles told the British Broadcasting Corp. "Most people agree this is pretty crazy."
British police in Kent closed the British side of the tunnel while French security forces scoured the passage for migrants. Industry operators said French inaction was causing escalating losses to their business.
"From our point of view it reinforces the view that the government has got to address the problem and it's got to be quick," Charles said.
Tour operators had to put hundreds of the stranded passengers in hotels in Britain and France while police rounded up the migrants and checked the tunnel to see if any got through.
The tunnel reopened at 6.45 a.m. Wednesday after a delay of more than 10-and-a-half hours.
The incident was the latest in a series involving migrants from countries in eastern Europe, Asia and Africa wanting to come to Britain.
On Nov. 6, police found 74 migrants hiding on trains and in October arrested 154 migrants in a freight terminal in the French border town of Calais.
More than 220 people were caught in three attempts by migrants between August and September to cross into Britain.
Eurotunnel claims it has intercepted 18,500 stowaways during the first half of the year, many of them migrants detained at Sangatte and awaiting decisions on their fate.
