Authorities in the northern French port city of Calais say police late Monday pushed back more than 2,000 migrants trying to enter the Eurotunnel in hopes of reaching Britain.
Eurotunnel officials described the migrant push as the largest of several such attempts by thousands of refugees to gain entry into Britain in the past six weeks. Eight migrant deaths have been reported at the tunnel since mid-June.
As many as 10,000 migrants from Africa, the Middle East and beyond are living in squalid encampments in and near Calais, a city of 70,000.
Observers say their push to enter the 50-kilometer undersea tunnel has intensified in recent weeks, after authorities stepped up port security to block migrants from stowing away on Britain-bound vessels.
The tunnel confrontation - the second such faceoff between police and migrants in the past two days - caused major delays in Eurotunnel service for much of Tuesday.