Passenger ferry runs aground on sandbank in Calais in storm

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Tugs work to free the ferry in Calais. 10 DecemberImage source, AFP
Image caption,

Two tugs worked to free the ferry

A P&O ferry carrying several hundred passengers has been set afloat again after running aground in the French port of Calais during a storm.

Nobody was hurt in the incident but traffic across the English Channel was disrupted.

Two tugs with cables were used to pull the vessel off a sandbank, a local newspaper reports.

They worked in winds of 120km/h (75mph) as waves hit the sides of the ship, La Voix du Nord reports.

The ferry was identified as the Pride of Kent.

P&O confirmed the incident in a statement.

"There are no reported injuries, the ship was refloated within two hours and we hope to transfer our passengers to an alternative ship as soon as possible," the statement said.