Eurostar evacuated after engine fire

A Eurostar train arrives at Kings Cross St Pancras (Getty)

Passengers had to be evacuated from a Eurostar service after smoke was seen coming from the train.

The incident happened at Ebbsfleet station in north Kent and involved a Brussels-bound train which had left St Pancras in London at 8.58am today.

Kent firefighters used thermal imaging cameras and located a small electrical fire in the engine compartment.

No one was hurt in the incident.

The train was taken out of service and a replacement sent to take the passengers on to Belgium, where they were expected to arrive between 60 and 90 minutes late.

A Eurostar spokeswoman said: “One of our trains going to Brussels had a technical problem. Once the fault was identified, the train was taken out of service and a replacement train sent.”

It was the second successive day of disruption for the Channel Tunnel high-speed train company.

Yesterday, hundreds of Eurostar passengers were delayed after a lightning strike triggered a fire in a building close to the entrance to the tunnel in Kent.

Although there was no damage to the track, four trains in and out of England were affected. Three eventually reached their destination but the fourth, which had been heading to Paris, was forced to turn back to London.

PA