Man who died in Calais crash confirmed as Polish
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
21.06.2017 17:05
A driver who died when his van crashed on Tuesday in Calais, northern France, has been identified as Polish.
Rescue team and firefighters secure a perimeter near the wreckage of a burnt van following a crash on the A16 highway, near Calais, northern France. Photo: EPA/GUY DROLLET
The van driver who died on the A16 motorway near Calais is 52-year-old Mirosław I. (name withheld under Polish privacy laws) from the Silesia region in southern Poland, a prosecutor told the PAP news agency.
The driver was killed on Tuesday when he crashed into a tail-back on a motorway near the northern French port of Calais where migrants had blocked the way with tree trunks, a local government official was reported by Reuters as saying.
The agency added that migrants stuck in the region around Calais regularly try to stop trucks bound for Britain, throwing branches or other objects onto the road to slow or bring vehicles to a halt so that they can slip into the cargo-section and hide.
Calais and the surrounding area have become a hotbed of migrant activity in recent years with tens of thousands of refugees from North Africa and the Middle East camping there in an attempt to seek a new life in the UK.
The notorious Calais Jungle, a shanty town built by migrants on the outskirts of the city, at one point housed over 8,000 people. French authorities clamped down on the camp in late 2016, announcing it “cleared” in October. However, Reuters reported that “large numbers” of migrants have returned to the area. (rg/pk)