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French armed police took the man out of the Eurostar service to London and he claims he was left stranded afterwards, calling their actions “absolutely outrageous”.
French armed police boarded a Eurostar bound for London and arrested a British passenger after a train director accused him of wearing “the wrong kind of mask”.
The extraordinary drama saw the unidentified man – who is in his 40s and is believed to be from Liverpool – exited from the train after an emergency stop in Lille, northern France.
He was then surrounded by at least eight uniformed officers, and then became stranded when the train resumed its journey to England.
“I haven’t done anything wrong and I follow all the coronavirus rules – it’s absolutely outrageous,” he said, as he was taken in front of other stunned passengers on Thursday afternoon.
He added: “I have absolutely no idea what this is except that one Eurostar staff member took a very strong dislike of me and accused me of not wearing the right kind of. mask.
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“Now I’m going to be alone in France, when all I wanted to do was come back from a work trip. It is very cruel treatment. We should all get along, not treat each other like that.
Other passengers then complained about the unplanned and unexpected stopover in Lille which resulted in a delay of about fifteen minutes.
“Why is Eurostar stopping its trains and delaying hundreds of passengers over a petty argument over a man’s mask?” said one.
The director of Eurostar – who remained on the train after the man’s arrest – confirmed that she had denounced him for wearing the “wrong type of mask” to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
When asked why the man had been forced to get off the train, one of the Lille police officers confirmed that he had been arrested and replied: “We don’t know why, we will have to find out.
The drama unfolded shortly after the Eurostar 9031 left Paris Gare du Nord on time at 1:13 p.m. PST on Thursday.
He was to travel directly to London, in order to arrive in St Pancras at 2:39 p.m. UK time – just under two and a half hours later.
A few minutes after the start, however, the manager of Eurostar was involved in a violent argument with the man.
She accused him of violating health and safety rules and said the black mask he was wearing was not appropriate.
All Eurostar passengers must wear masks at all times, except when eating or drinking.
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There was a buffet on the train and many passengers in car 13 – where the man was sitting alone by a window in a row of two – had completely removed their masks, as they had sandwiches and drinks. with them.
Despite this, the manager berated the man, then used a radio to summon another staff member.
She then indicated that she would alert the Lille police, to ensure that the man was evacuated “as soon as possible”.
The businessman then replaced his black mask with a standard blue supplied by another passenger. He apologized and appeared to have evaded further action.
But when the train arrived in Lille, it made an unscheduled stop, and three armed officers boarded, while the others waited on the platform.
“It was ridiculous,” said another passenger, a 32-year-old Londoner who asked to be referred to by her first name, Li.
“The Eurostar woman was telling the police what to do and insisting that the poor guy be fired, like he was some kind of criminal.
“He was actually very reasonable, and didn’t swear or act disruptively at all – everyone was on his side, but he was kicked out and we didn’t see him again.”
The Eurostar manager stayed on the train to St-Pancras, and was seen leaving the train with a backpack.
Eurostar was approached for comment Thursday evening, but Friday morning still had not responded to inquiries about the arrest.
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