Footage has emerged of migrants near Calais ambushing a truck driver as he makes for the port on his way to the UK.
The latest of several similar incidents in the area which have seen migrants weilding a range of weapons, fears are rising for the safety of British tourists passing through the port over the coming bank holiday.
In the footage, captured on driver Marc Mombaerts’ phone camera, a group of migrants can be seen blocking the road with tree branches to stop the truck before climbing aboard.
One migrant brandishes a branch carved into a makeshift bat at the truck, using the weapon to threaten the driver when he revs the engine in an attempt to move on. Meanwhile, a number of migrants simply clambered aboard his vehicle.
Mombaerts told VTM News: “If I give dared put our foot down, they immediately made it clear that they would strike the windshield.
“Such blockades have been common for weeks and months.
“I stand all night in a traffic jam like this.”
The incident comes less than two weeks after a driver narrowly avoided being murdered when migrants threw a branch, which had been carved into a rough spear, through the windshield of his cab. The weapon lodged about three feet into the cab, but missed the driver completely despite striking the windshield just inches from where he was sitting.
Pictures of the damage were passed to the Calais residents group Les Calaisiens en Colère (Calaisiens are angry), who posted it to their Facebook page, with the comment: “A truck driver was the victim of an attempted murder. He got away. By some miracle he escaped unharmed.
A driver narrowly avoided death when a sharpened branch was thrust through the window of his cab (Pic: Les Calaisiens en Colere / Facebook)
“The murder weapon is a tree branch carved in pointe to improve the penetration through the windshield and possibly through the head of this unfortunate driver. This weapon is still embedded in the windshield of the cab of the truck.”
Referring to recent incidents on the island of Corsica in which locals have been brawling with migrants, they pleaded with the French President Francois Hollande to take action, saying: “Must the people of Calais follow the example of those on Corsica, or will you take action?”
With 9,000 migrants now encamped in the Jungle on the outskirts of Calais Port and all intent on getting to the UK, road-blocks and violent threats are becoming commonplace on the main port road.
Reports abound of haulage drivers and tourists alike being threatened with bats, knives, and even chainsaws, while locals are warning each other to stay away from main roads as their vehicles are being smashed up for fun as they sit in traffic jams created by the migrants.
Fears are rising that the coming bank holiday could spell chaos for the region as tourist traffic picks up. One British driver, who had his car smashed up as he passed through Calais earlier this month, has warned fellow Brits to avoid the area completely thanks to safety concerns.
Recounting his experience, Rhys Williams told the Daily Mail: “I was on the pitch black approach road to the port at about 1am in the morning when there was an almighty bang to the side of my car.
“Two or three migrants had thrown a massive boulder that smashed my windows and damaged the rear door, driver’s door and the pillar in-between.
“Two police vans were trying to contain 50 to 60 migrants that had come onto the carriageway with chainsaws and Molotov cocktails, throwing them at the trucks, the traffic and the police.
“They were chopping down trees and setting fire to them to block the road, there was no way the police could cope.
“In the middle of all this was a small family car, the occupants were clearly distressed.”
He said the attack, which resulted about £3,000 of damage to his car, should be a warning to all holidaymakers thinking of using the port.