Sussex Police officer helps evacuate passengers stranded in Channel Tunnel

A Sussex Police officer went beyond the call of duty to help evacuate passengers left stranded for about six hours in a broken-down train in the Channel Tunnel.

Emergency Planning Officer PC Caroline Lowe, who is based at Gatwick, helped organise an evacuation of the train with the help of two other off-duty police officers - her partner, a
Metropolitan officer, an officer from Essex and an off duty paramedic from Herfordshire. The two Eurostar trains had broken down in the tunnel due to the extreme cold weather conditions.

The train was travelling back to the UK from Disneyland Paris and the majority of the passengers were families with very young children. The train broke down which caused a complete loss of power. Conditions started to deteriorate, which impacted on the passengers health and welfare. Eurostar staff then requested police assistance and PC Lowe assisted in taking control of the incident.

PC Lowe said "The welfare of the passengers was paramount. The train was left in complete darkness with only minimal emergency lighting in the tunnel. It became very hot due to no air conditioning and the passengers quickly became more distressed as time went on. A handful of people were suffering panic attacks, whilst others suffered respiratory problems or felt generally unwell.

"Because of the training I have had from Sussex Police as an emergency planning officer, I was aware of the Channel Tunnel layout and the emergency exits. I could reassure people that procedures were in place for such an event, that there was another tunnel used in an emergency and that it would take time for the emergency services to arrive to get them out safely. We needed to keep people as calm as possible.

"Several hours had passed and the four of us decided to open the emergency doors to allow air to circulate through the train. We used the tannoy to ask people to remain on the train, for their safety,
while we evacuated everyone carriage by carriage, reassuring them there were alternative exits and we'd take them to safety. Once we were on the freight train, we were able to find emergency bottles of water and distributed them to the passengers who wanted them.

"It is my job to know what to do in these types of situations and I was really pleased to be able to help everyone remain calm and get them to safety."

Chief Superintendent Paul Morrison said: "Not often when we set off on holiday do we think that the day job will have to be done. Caroline and the others involved acted very bravely in a strange environment to get people to safety. Her part in this incident reflects upon the whole service and brings credit to Sussex Police."

News Source: Sussex Police

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