London, October 7

Two Iranians have been arrested and remanded in custody after having walked through the Channel Tunnel from France to Britain, police said today.

Payam Moradi Mirahessari, 25, and Farein Vahdani, 20, were arrested in Folkestone on the southeast English coast, where the 50-km undersea rail tunnel ends, on Saturday.

They were both charged with obstructing an engine or carriage using the railway. The pair appeared before Medway Magistrates Court on Monday, where they were remanded in custody, Kent Police told AFP.

Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel suspended traffic through the tunnel in the early hours of Saturday when a crowd of migrants stormed the French entrance in Calais. In August, a Sudanese suspected illegal immigrant made it nearly all the way through the tunnel before he was arrested.

Thousands of people from Africa, the Middle East and Asia are camped in Calais in slum-like conditions, and at least 13 have died since June 26 trying to cross over into Britain, where many have family and work is thought easier to find. The surge in migrants attempting to cross the Channel prompted a string of measures to increase security at the Calais terminal entrance.