Two more migrants die in attempt to cross Channel from France

Two more migrants were killed Thursday and Friday trying to reach England from northern France, as the rail operator Eurotunnel blames travel delays on "intensive migrant activity”.

French police with a migrant who had climbed into a lorry entering the Channel Tunnel in Calais Reuters/Vincent Kessler

The body of a teenage migrant was found on a train that arrived in Britain from France on Thursday, police and a spokeswoman for Eurotunnel have confirmed.

Meanwhile, a 23-year-old Eritrean woman died Friday morning after she was hit by a car on the highway in Calais at an exit "allowing cargo onto a terminal to go to" the Channel Tunnel, firefighters told French news agency AFP.

About 10 people have died on the highway since the beginning of June, according to AFP, and the British interior ministry says authorities stopped more than 8,000 attempts at crossing the Channel over a six-week period in June and July.

On Wednesday, Eurotunnel announced it would seek 9.7 million euros in compensation from the British and French governments due to travel disruption caused by migrants.

The company said it had run up a security bill of 13 million euros trying to prevent migrants crossing from France to England.

Britain has already agreed to pay 4.7 million euros, the company says.

But it points out that nearly all its problems are in the French port of Calais and it accuses the French government of playing down the number of migrants camped out there.