Passenger trapped on Eurostar train for five hours claims six-figure sum for 'false imprisonment'

A French businessman who was trapped for five hours on a Eurostar train is suing the company for a six-figure sum for ‘false imprisonment’.

Willy Risi was on one of four trains that broke down inside the Channel Tunnel on December 18 last year.

However, instead of arriving in London at 8.35pm, passengers were evacuated at 1am and transferred on to another train, which got stuck in Ashford, Kent, between 2am and 7am.



Mr Risi said: ‘We had nothing to eat, no food, and the doors were shut. It was impossible to leave the train. We spent five hours without any kind of information, or any Eurostar agents to tell us what was going on.

‘This was imprisonment, pure and simple. I’ve given all the details to my lawyer who’s going to file a complaint to the court.’

Mr Risi is claiming an unspecified sum in compensation but it is believed to be in ‘well into six figures’, according to legal sources. If his landmark case is successful then it could result in multi-million payouts because of others taking similar action.