Migrant killed in car accident involving British driver near French port of Calais

Car accident: The incident happened at an interchange near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel
AP
Saphora Smith10 October 2016

An Eritrean man has been killed and his wife injured after they were hit by a British driver on a motorway near the French port of Calais.

The incident happened on Sunday evening at an interchange near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel, where migrants were reportedly trying to obstruct traffic in order to board UK-bound lorries.

A local French prosecutor said that around 50 migrants had dragged obstacles onto the road in an attempt to board vehicles, causing the British driver to swerve and hit the Eritrean couple.

The driver reportedly left his car to help the man before being attacked by a group of migrants.

He then called the police who were forced to deploy riot officers to quell the situation.

In limbo: Migrants in the northern area of the Calais camp called the 'Jungle'
REUTERS

The Eritrean man is the 14th migrant to be killed in the Calais area this year.

Last month an Afghan teenager was killed while trying to climb onto a Heavy Goods Vehicle heading for the Channel Tunnel.

The body of Raheemullah Oryakhel, 14, was returned to his family in Afghanistan last month.

In a recent visit to the nearby migrant camp, known as the ‘Jungle’, French President François Hollande pledged to “completely and definitively close [the camp]” a process which will reportedly begin next week.

The forced closure throws into question the fate of the camp's ten thousand odd migrants.

The French government has said it will send the population to centres in other regions of France but has called on Britain to do its part.

Extreme Lengths: A migrant clings to the roof of a lorry (Gareth Fuller/PA ) 
Gareth Fuller/PA

On Monday the French Interior Minister Bernard Cazenueve said that many of the children in the camp had family in the UK.

Speaking on French radio before his visit to Britain and his meeting with UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd he said: “I solemnly ask Britain to live up to its moral duty.”

Ms Rudd said that it would be “a really good result” if Britain takes in 300 lone child migrants from the camp.

There are reportedly at least 387 child migrants in the ‘Jungle’ with a legal right to come to the UK.

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