Hundreds of Eurostar passengers stuck in Kent relapse

Eurostar services from London to Paris were today taking almost twice as long as usual after a breakdown last night left hundreds of passengers stranded in darkness.

Nearly 750 people were stuck for two hours last night after the Paris toLondon service came to a halt just before 11pm due to "technicalproblems".

Today Eurostar admitted it was still struggling with the same issues and that trains travelling between the British and French capitals were taking an hour longer than normal for the two hour 20 minute journey.

"Terrifying": Passenger Dan Feldman took this photo as scared passengers were evacuated from the stricken train

A Eurostar spokesman said the company - bitterly criticised forpre-Christmas breakdowns in the tunnel - was still investigating thecause of last night"s incident in Ashford Kent.

"(Today"s) delays are due to the same problem we had last night in Ashford," he added.

Last night, more than 740 passengers had to clamber down ladders on to thetracks and then back up on to a replacement train that arrivedalongside more than an hour later.

There were reports of stifling temperatures on board the strandedtrain, with toilets not working and staff struggling to find emergencylighting.

Last night passengers reported carriages being plunged into darknessand conditions becoming hot and sweaty when the air conditioning failedshortly after the train stopped.

Several began to panic and many children were crying.

Passengers on the train - which included a number of elderly anddisabled people and young children - had to sit in pitch darkness for almosttwo hours before finally being told they would have to ;carry their ownluggage while climbing out of the train on ladders.

They then had to use ladders to board another train which had pulled up alongside.

Legaladvisor Dan Feldman, 35, was on his way back from a weekend break inParis with his wife Clarissa, 36, and their three children agedsix-and-a-half, five and two.

He said last night: "The way Eurostar have handled it has been completely shambolic.

"We just came to a stop and we have been in pitch darkness for more than an hour.

"The toilets arent working which is unpleasant and the air conditioning is broken so it is getting very hot.

"Its extremely uncomfortable we are all sweating.

"Thereare young children here and needless to say they are frightened havingto sit in pitch darkness. Its not very nice for them.

More than 740 people were stuck for two hours after the Paris to London service stopped just before 10pm outside Ashford last night due to "technical problems"

Passenger Richard Startari told the BBC: "Just 10 minutes from Ashford,the Eurostar kind of stopped, at which point we then lost all power."

He said Eurostar staff went up and down with water, but had had to usetheir iPhones for light as they "didn"t seem to have torches, which isa bit concerning".

The rescue train finally arrived at St Pancras just after 2.30am, more than four-and-a-half hours later than the scheduled arrival time.

Eurostar said travellers were offered taxis or hotel accommodation, andare being offered a cash refund of last night"s Paris to London trip,plus a free return ticket in compensation.

An independent report into Eurostar"s pre-Christmas breakdowns, whichleft around 2,500 passengers stranded on trains for several hoursovernight, criticised the preparedness of the firm for such anemergency.

Five trains broke down in the Channel Tunnel on the night of December 18 and 19 after snow got into the locomotives" power cars.

The report - published earlier this month - said the company had "noplan in place" to deal with the breakdowns, and said passengers,including expectant mothers and youngsters returning from DisneylandParis, had to contend with "appalling conditions".

Former GNER East Coast Main Line rail boss Christopher Garnett andFrench transport expert Claude Gressier made 21 recommendations,including train modifications, improved communications and betteremergency plans.

Eurostar also suffered more transport problems last week after a major Brusselscommuter train crash on Monday.

Services to and from the Belgian capital have been disrupted since the collision.

Madeira floods that killed British mom 50 could explain 74 lives as genocide fee continues to climb

The death toll from horrific the Madeira floods that claimed the life of a British holidaymaker was feared to be at least 74 today.

A total of 42 bodies have so far been pulled from the water and 32 people remain missing after a torrents of mud and rainwater crashed down the Portuguese island"s steep slopes four days ago.

Many of those uncounted for may never be found because they are likely to have been swept out to sea, officials said.

Nineteen shoppers are also feared drowned in the basement car park of a mall. Divers were searching the shopping centre in the capital, Funchal.

Scroll down for video report

A rescue worker helped by a sniffer dog searches though debris for victims in the village of Santo Antonio

A man is pulled from the flood in Madeira: At least 40 people have died in the mudslides caused by torrential rain

The scars left by landslides are seen on the slopes of Curral das Freiras, a village in the interior of the Madeira

People view a street in Funchal where cars lay buried under debris after heavy flooding

More...Madeira floods: latest travel advice for holidaymakersMachu Picchu: Peru flights slashed to attract tourism to flood-hit region

Rescue teams were also using sniffer dogs to scour debris and dig cars out of mounds of sludge to see if anyone was inside.

Last night it emerged that the three sons of a woman killed when a taxi carrying four Britons was hit by the deluge have flown to the holiday isle to comfort their grieving father.

Pamela Gaines, 50, from Garton-on-the-Wolds, East Yorkshire, was swept away along with the Portuguese driver.

Her husband George, 54, escaped, as did Roger and Gillian Wilson.

Mrs Wilson, in her 50s, is in hospital with serious chest injuries.

Three other Brits are feared injured after torrential rain sparked mudslides and flooding.

The two British couples, who were holidaying together, were travelling in the hills above the Madeiran capital, Funchal.

Madeira is popular with UKholidaymakers, but the Foreign Office said last night it had receivedno other reports of Britons being hurt by the floods and mudslides onSaturday, which followed hours of torrential rain.

People walk along a flooded street in downtown Funchal, Madeira in the aftermath of the floods

Rescue team members take a dead body from the mud in Ribeira Brava after heavy rains and strong winds hit Madeira Island

A local boy died at the same spot after trying to flee with his mother when their car was caught up in the flood.

His father Norberto Castro told howhe saw his five-year-old son Rui Norberto and wife Eulalia swept away.She is still missing. He said: "The car began to slide and I couldn"tcontrol it. I told my wife to make a run for it with our child.

"I saw them fighting against thewater and I saw a man trying to help them. Then they were swept away bythe water and I didn"t see them again."

Portuguese officials said theyexpected the death toll to rise. Hundreds of people have been lefthomeless by the worst tragedy to hit Madeira for a century.

Parts of Funchal resembled theaftermath of a tsunami. Cars were piled on top of one another instreets covered in mud, rocks and stones.

The debris of a taxi is seen lodged between the roofs of two buildings after heavy flooding in Funchal, Madeira

Flood water rushes towards Funchal harbour: The Portuguese government is considering whether to declare a state of emergency in the region

Military personnel look for flood survivors in a building along the streets of downtown Funchal

German tourist Andreas Hoisser said:"It was horrible, there were cars on rooftops, there were vans andtrucks that had been totally crushed".

Hotels in the main tourist area ofFunchal escaped the worst flooding and were getting-back to normal lastnight. Madeira"s most famous son, former Manchester United footballerCristiano Ronaldo, spoke of his devastation and offered to helpvictims.

Most of his immediate family were inthe Portuguese capital, Lisbon, where his sister has given just birth.Ronaldo said: "No-one, especially me as I was born and grew up inMadeira, can remain indifferent to this calamity. I am ready to helpout in any way I can."

A submerged car on a destroyed downtown Funchal street

People look at cars carried down a hillside by floodwaters outside Funchal: Local authorities called in employees to operate heavy machinery like bulldozers to clear roads and remove debris

British holidaymaker Cathy Sayers said Funchal was like a ghost town and that the infrastructure had been wrecked.

She told the BBC: "The drains justcannot cope with the water that"s coming down from the mountains - theyare just overfilled with sludge.

"There wasn"t really any warning,particularly any warning that it would be quite so bad because it isexceptional for this island."

Ricardo Macedo, a rep forBournemouth tour operator Palmair, said: ;Theres a Dunkirk spirit inFunchal. As far as I know all 93 of my clients are safe. Most ofFunchal is without fresh water.

A man and a dog walk by as people recover their belongings from a taxi damaged by the heavy flooding

People look on as a street with vehicles is engulfed by heavy flooding in Funchal

Aftermath: Swept-away cars and debris piled up to first-floor balconies

TV footage showed torrents offast-moving, mud-filled water tearing through the streets of thecapital Funchal, dragging cars and nearly sweeping away two policemen.

Parts of the island were isolated by blocked roads and downedbridges as winds reached 70mph early yesterday. Electricity and phonelinks were also cut.

The Portuguese government is considering whether to declare a state of emergency in the region.

"We"re overwhelmed by calls from people asking for help after thetorrential rains," a duty officer at the civil protection service said.

Homes have been destroyed by the floods and electricity and phone links have also been cut, forcing emergency rescue services toappeal over local radio stations for off-duty doctors and nurses toreport for duty.

The islands government said it wasfinding temporary accommodation for hundreds left homeless by theflooding.

Local authorities called in employees to operate heavy machinery likebulldozers to clear roads and remove debris.

People in low-lying areasof Funchal fled as flood waters rose, state-run Lusa news agency said.

Enlarge

In Funchal, the airport has been closed and the city"s mayor advised residents to stay at home.

Prime Minister Jose Socrates expressed his "profound shock" at the sizeof the calamity affecting Madeira.

Madeira regional president Alberto Joao Jardim spoke to EuropeanCommission president Jose Manuel Barroso, who is Portuguese, to appealfor emergency aid from the European Union.

Mr Socrates promised that help would be sent from the Portuguese mainland.

Cristiano Ronaldo is ready to help "in whatever possible way" following the storm on the Portuguese island of Madeira.

Enlarge

Ronaldo celebrates after scoring against Villarreal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid

The 24-year-old, who moved to the Bernabeu from Manchester United in a world record 80million deal last summer, scored a brilliant free-kick opener in last night"s 6-2 defeat of Villarreal, which he dedicated to the victims of the disaster.

"Nobody can be indifferent to such a tragedy, especially me," said Ronaldo on Real Madrid"s official website.

"I was born and raised on the island. It"s given me so much. This is why I want to make myself available to help in whatever possible way.

"I would like to help official bodies and organisations to minimise the effects of this great tragedy and to get over them as soon as possible."

Times Sport Power 100: Fabio Capello - No 1

Matt Dickinson & , : {}

It is in the glass-walled Wembley bureau where he famously nude John Terry of the captaincy in twelve mins prosaic that Fabio Capello greets the headlines that he is tip of The Times Sport Power 100. That preference is not the usually reason Capello is ranked this sunrise as the majority successful man in sport, but it was an part that reliable the Italian as a man with energy and one not fearful to swing it.

That part suggested something else. As the media and the rest of the nation worked themselves in to high fad about Terrys behaviour, Capello ruminated for multiform days at his home in Lugano, Switzerland, prior to drifting to England and demoting Terry with the smallest of fuss. An critical strand of Capellos government character had been unearthed and it had zero to do with his sincerely dignified on all sides that Terry had unsuccessful in his avocation as a purpose model. The some-more lasting summary was pragmatic: since have a fool around out of a crisis?

Dont be scared was unequivocally majority Capellos mantra when he welcomed The Times this week. Please, lay down, relax, he said, as he served up the coffees from the Italian espresso appurtenance conflicting his desk.

It was the finish of a week in that David Beckhams ruptured Achilles tendon had compounded Englands problems prior to the World Cup finals this summer. Beckham is out of the contest and Ashley Cole is racing to be fit. Rio Ferdinand is a at the at the back of of aria watchful to happen. The haven left at the at the back of of is operative after the former captain slept with the mom of his child. The preference of goalkeepers is in in between the one who will be relegated with Portsmouth and the one who might go down with West Ham United.

Sport Power 100: Capello - No 1

Rising from series eight last year to stick position, the England physical education instructor demonstrated that he was not fearful of utilizing his power

Fabio Capello proves it: the P-word comes with shortcoming Times Sport Power 100: How we rated the total of management Times Sport Power 100: Powers of the past The competition energy 100: Nos 2-5Times Sport Power 100: Blatter - No 2Times Sport Power 100: Coe - No 3Times Sport Power 100: Darroch - No 4Times Sport Power 100: Rooney - No 5 The competition energy 100: Nos 6-9Times Sport Power 100: Sheikh Mansour - No 6Times Sport Power 100: Ferguson - No 7Times Sport Power 100: Scudamore - No 8Times Sport Power 100: Triesman - No 9 The competition energy 100: No 10Times Sport Power 100: Ecclestone - No 10Times Sport Power 100: The abounding list The competition energy 100: Nos 11-100Times Sport Power 100: 30-11Times Sport Power 100: 50-31Times Sport Power 100: 70-51Times Sport Power 100: 90-71Related LinksCapello proves it: the P-word comes with shortcoming Times Sport Power 100: How we rated themTimes Sport Power 100: Powers of the past

England crop up to loiter so far at the at the back of of Brazil and Spain that it seems an unbridgeable gap. It is as though someone has devised an barrier march to exam Capello. Think you are special, eh? A leader everywhere youve been? Well heres a preference in in between Leighton Baines and Stephen Warnock right away get out of that.

Capello was not hired by the FA to bewail his troubles. He is paid about 5 million a year to compromise them. And he acknowledges as much. He cannot, for example, conjure up a improved goalkeeper than Robert Green or David James, but he can have certain that he picks the right one; and he can assistance them to be in the majority appropriate support of mind.

Where others have been impressed by the scale of the pursuit and the outward forces resistance them, Capello appears able of shortening his purpose to the big decisions that matter. He approaches them with a structured mind; similar to the outrageous whiteboard in his bureau on that is written, in opposite colours, the meetings and matches that Capello and Franco Baldini, his assistant, will attend in the entrance weeks; blue for Fabio, red for Franco, immature if it is both.

They are faraway by the pre-World Cup insanity that has taken hold in England, so we can suppose their professional proceed to the to-do lists of new weeks. Sack captain (tick), designate new one (tick), find new left at the at the back of of (pending). And so on. No fuss, no drama.

Capello was innate to lead. Even as a immature player he was described by team-mates as a midfield general; sitting in front of the at the at the back of of four, dictating play, barking instructions.

In his twenties at Juventus, Capello would cling to around with the directors as majority as his associate players. One team-mate, Luciano Spinosi, described the immature Capello to Gabriele Marcotti for his autobiography Portrait of a Winner. He wasnt the kind of leader who felt the need to attraction himself to others, Spinosi said. He knew what he longed for and he knew how to get it, and he wasnt going to let any one mount in his approach or confuse him from it.

Later at AC Milan, Silvio Berlusconi, the owner, speckled the intensity in Capello. Berlusconi asked him to take assign of Mediolanum, a plan to spin Milan in to a outrageous sports bar braggadocio teams in rugby union, volleyball, ice hockey and basketball. As ubiquitous manager, Capello had a staff of 40, carry out of budgets and shortcoming for sponsorship deals. They were big deals, too, together with the recruitment of David Campese to the rugby team.

Along with his five years in assign of the Milan girl teams, Capello was well rebuilt when he became manager in 1991. He has enjoyed unusual success everywhere since. The 9 championships on his CV from 4 clubs (Milan, Roma, Juventus and Real Madrid, nonetheless Juventus were nude of one) lent him a healthy management when he took assign of the England organisation after the Steve McClaren debacle. His appointment was fast vindicated. We combined one character of players on the pitch, one character of game, he said.

That he has finished so with a singular English wording creates it all the some-more remarkable. Capello does not miss charm, and get him on opera, art or Italian governing body and he will speak at length and with passion. Or at slightest try to.

But the players contend that they can go a total week in stay with hardly a word in reserve from short, pointy instructions from the sidelines. They could certitude that they were in great hands when key tactical decisions came early; elucidate the perpetual Gerrard-Lampard discuss by relocating the former to the left. Wayne Rooney blossomed at the at the back of of a aim man in Emile Heskey.

Capello afterwards pounded the ongoing miss of confidence, privately at Wembley. Some players were great with their bar teams, but not so great here, he said. The shirt of the inhabitant organisation is heavy, he said, tugging at his jumper. At half-time, I discuss it them, You have to fool around the same with me [as] you do with your club. Not short passing. You dribble, you try things. This is confidence. Thats the problem.

For some, he said, the burst from bar football is as well great. He has a speculation that it is one step from the third multiplication to the second, 3 some-more up to the initial since if you have a inapplicable designation opposite Arsenal, Chelsea, it can lead to a goal. But from the initial multiplication to the inhabitant organisation is 6 steps. Why? Because you havent done a inapplicable designation only with a pass. If your on all sides is not good, rught away the a goal. You have to be focused in each moment. We done the inapplicable designation opposite Brazil [in Doha, Qatar, in November, when England lost 1-0]. Just one bad position. Goal.

Capello talks mostly about the suggestion of the organisation and an additional managerial tenet, critical after the WAG enlightenment of prior regimes, was to instil simple discipline. Banning mobile phones unless in the remoteness of players bedrooms and punctuality are between his demands; not for the consequence of it, he says, but for bonding.

We fool around together, work together and have apply oneself for everyone, he said. Thats important. I dont similar to it when someone is late. Why should the others wait? When we lay at the list for lunch, for dinner, we lay together. Players should wait for for the others to finish. You can speak together. It creates the great group. Dont eat one toast and go.

Problems left to solve, he says, embody how to mangle down a Brazil side whom he rates stronger than Spain. To win, thats all, he said. There are no alternative problems. I goal the majority appropriate players will be fit, he said. It creates a difference. And presumably a little players will arrive sleepy at the finish of the season. But I have certainty in my players.

We get on with it. We can fool around Brazil, Spain but problems. You have unequivocally great players, but you have not won for such a prolonged time. We have to dont think about this. Easy for him to say. And afterwards there are penalties. Capello says that he is operative on that problem, too.

The majority absolute man in British sport? Truly, if he can have us confidant and correct from twelve yards.

hair wig

Dorset residents exercised by chief puncture drill

Simon de Bruxelles & , : {}

Portland residents who were told to stay indoors since of a vital deviation trickle are perfectionist an reparation after the puncture incited out to be an exercise.

Householders vital nearby the former naval bottom on the removed peninsula in Dorset barricaded themselves in their homes when they perceived leaflets informing them of the trickle on Wednesday. They were suggested to close doors, lard any fires, not to try to leave the area, to take potassium iodate tablets and follow any instructions given. Officials from the internal H2O association toured the streets in vans with loudspeakers notice that H2O reserve were being cut.

The Nuclear Accident Emergency Plan exercise, that was led by Dorset County Council, the Royal Navy, Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the precinct council, concerned a prospectus dump to 1,200 residents vital inside of 1.5km of Portland Port.

Vivien Hawkins, 78, was between those who insincere the puncture was real. She said: It was frightening. I listened this horrible noise, non-stop my front doorway but couldnt assimilate what they were saying. After that a pamphlet came revelation me to close all the windows and lard fires.

Related LinksTensions climb as India launches submarineTrident widows" prolonged quarrel scarcely over

John Morris, an additional resident, said: I went outward when I listened the shrill hailer announcement. I was handed this prospectus about chief leaks by a bloke who pronounced zero and there were multiform people articulate on radios.

It looked critical and the no consternation people panicked. The organisers dealt with this in an definitely amateurish manner.

Geoff Buckley, 73, a former comparison government official engineer, said: If people dont know whats going on it scares them. Instead of utilizing pamphlets, they should outlay a bit of time going around to revisit people.

The placement of leaflets was a predecessor to a incomparable practice programmed for Apr twenty-seven to exam the Portland Port off-site reactor puncture plan and the Royal Navys puncture plan. The exercises are a orthodox requisite since there is a possibility that chief submarines could berth in the harbour.

When identical exercises have been carried out, allege notice was since to residents by the internal media.

Donna George, a comparison puncture government military officer at Dorset County Council, pronounced that the prospectus dump was an refurbish of a identical practice 3 years ago.

There are patently a little alternative questions thrown up on this arise that werent thrown up 3 years ago. The open report booklets were constructed for the initial time 3 years ago and that was patently piece of us notice and informing members of the open in the area what to do in the doubtful eventuality an situation should occur. Its piece of the orthodox requirements.

hair wig

Britons "among the slightest expected to humour from food sensitivity" UK headlines The Observer

A investigate suggested that apples can be a usual trigger for food senstivities. Photograph: Alamy

British people are a little of the slightest approaching in the horse opera universe to humour from food attraction reactions. This is the finish of a investigate of some-more than 4,500 adults from thirteen countries carried out by Imperial College London.

The investigate found that nations sundry in the rate of people who reacted to at slightest one food. At the tip finish of the spectrum, about 25% of people in Portland, Oregon, in the US, displayed food attraction reactions, compared with 11% in Iceland and Spain. Britain and France were subsequent at 14%.

For the study, published in the biography Allergy, the researchers tested participants" red blood for antibodies opposite a range of foods. This gauges food sensitivity, that refers to an defence complement reply to a food"s proteins. Not everybody who is supportive to a food displays symptoms of a clinical allergy, such as wheezing, flourishing or digestive problems.

Results from the investigate suggested that, along with the US, Germany, Italy and Norway had the top superiority of food sensitivity, with about 22% of people from each nation display antibodies opposite a little sort of food.

However, the researchers additionally detected that countries tended to have identical specific dishes that triggered reactions. Hazelnuts, peaches, shrimp, wheat and apples emerged as the majority common. At the alternative finish of the spectrum, fish, eggs and cow"s divert – routinely noticed as the foodstuffs majority similar to to trigger allergic reactions – incited out to be slightest usual causes of sensitivity.

Those patterns were sincerely unchanging opposite countries – some-more unchanging than would be approaching by chance, according to the researchers, led by Dr Peter Burney of Imperial College London.

Across countries, less than 1% of people had sensitivities to fish, eggs or divert whilst 7% of people had sensitivityto hazelnuts. The subsequent majority usual causes of attraction were peaches, shrimp and wheat, that each influenced about 5% of people opposite countries.