Over time, the French authorities’ harassment and evictions of refugees in Calais has reduced the number of places they can sleep to a few small outlying areas on the edges of the town.
More and more areas of scrubland where refugees live have been fenced off, with the result that some people are now sleeping on scraps of wasteland. Some of that wasteland is near serious hazards such as train tracks.
The man killed last night was walking along a train track in order to get back to his tent.
The man was walking with a friend, who was unhurt. He was hit by a train travelling from Dunkirk at about 7.15pm. The emergency services arrived quickly, but the team of 13 firefighters were unable to save him.
