A climber was rescued by firefighters after becoming stranded just 30 metres from the summit of Peñas Blancas in the Region of Murcia, when numbness in his hands left him unable to continue his ascent. The rescue took place after 9:00pm on Wednesday, October 14, when the man was climbing alongside a companion on the XL route, a popular climbing section of the rocky mountain near the Costa Calida municipality of Cartagena.

Stranded near the summit after hands went numb mid-climb

According to reports, the climber managed to reach a ledge where he could remain safely secured while his companion contacted the emergency services for help. Firefighters from Cartagena City Council leapt into action in response to the emergency, accessing the difficult-to-reach area via the Rambla de la Víbora. The rescue team then spent approximately an hour walking to the location, carrying the equipment needed to bring the stranded climber to safety.

Firefighters launch a difficult night-time rescue: Two men brought to safety

Given the challenging terrain and the darkness, rescuers first had to establish the man’s precise position before planning their approach. A drone was deployed to help locate him and allow the team to assess the situation. Firefighters subsequently set up a rescue operation using ropes and anchoring systems to reach the climber and guide him safely to the summit.

Once the first man had been brought to safety, the rescue team also helped his companion leave the area. Fortunately, neither of the two men suffered serious injuries during the incident. Both were reported to have climbing federation licences and were able to leave the area safely following the operation.

The challenges of climbing Cartagena’s Peñas Blancas

Peñas Blancas, which rises to 627 metres above sea level, is the highest peak in the municipality of Cartagena. Its white rock face overlooks the El Cañar gorge and lies close to the Mediterranean coast, between Isla Plana and La Azohía. Although the mountain is not particularly high, its steep rock faces and difficult access can make climbing challenging, especially when an emergency occurs after dark.

The incident, once again, emphasises the important role played by emergency first responder crews in Murcia, who are regularly called to assist people experiencing difficulties in the region’s mountainous and coastal landscapes.

For some people in Spain, getting to work, taking children where they need to go or reaching essential services comes with a bill they cannot easily escape. The average household now spends €4,020 a year on transport, and cutting back is not always an option when daily life depends on being able to get from A to B.

The figure is up from €3,158 in 2015, an increase of €862 over a decade. Transport accounts for 11.5% of household spending, according to a report by EAE Business School published on Thursday, October 15. Its findings highlight the growing problem of transport poverty, where people cannot afford to travel or lack access to reliable public transport, making it harder to reach work and essential services.

Where you live can determine how much you pay

The biggest divide is between people who have several ways to travel and those who depend on a car. In municipalities with fewer than 10,000 residents, 73.5% of people rely primarily on cars, compared with 29.6% in larger towns and cities. Public transport shows the opposite pattern. In the most populated municipalities, 48.8% of residents use it as their main means of getting around. In smaller municipalities, the figure falls to just 10.9%, according to the EAE report.

For people living in areas with limited bus or rail connections, owning a car can be a necessity rather than a choice. Fuel, insurance, maintenance and other running costs are difficult to avoid when there is no practical alternative for getting to work, shopping or appointments. That leaves some people with an awkward choice: absorb the expense or travel less. Spending less on transport does not necessarily mean someone is better off. It may mean turning down work, missing appointments or giving up journeys they need to make.

A cheaper home can mean a more expensive commute

Housing decisions can add to the problem. A property outside a town or city may cost less to rent or buy, but the saving can shrink when the journey to work requires a car every day. The report warns that poor transport connections can make a job financially inaccessible even when the salary looks attractive. Distance and the available transport options matter alongside income when calculating whether taking a job is worthwhile.

This can leave people with fewer choices about where they live and work. Someone may spend less on housing but more on getting to employment, while a person without reliable transport may struggle to reach jobs in the first place. Miguel Ángel López Gómez, an EAE Business School professor and author of the report, argues that transport should be seen not simply as another household expense, but as the price people pay to reach work, services and opportunities.

Transport costs can also push up prices

The impact does not stop at household budgets. Spain relies heavily on road transport to move goods, and the report puts road freight activity at 272 billion tonne-kilometres, around 15% of the EU total. Food, agriculture, construction, manufacturing, retail, distribution and tourism all depend on goods being moved around the country.

When transport and logistics become more expensive, businesses can face higher operating costs, which may feed through into the prices customers pay. The pressure can therefore reach people who are not making long commutes as well as those who rely on a car every day.

Transport costs put jobs and essential services out of reach

The cost of getting around leaves people in poorly connected areas with fewer options. Those who can rely on public transport have an alternative to paying for a car, while others face the expense of fuel, insurance and maintenance simply to get to work or reach essential services. For people on lower incomes, those costs can make everyday journeys harder to afford and job opportunities more difficult to access.

EAE calls for better mobility alternatives, particularly for people on lower incomes, those travelling longer distances and households heavily dependent on private vehicles. The figures suggest that access to transport is about more than the cost of a journey: it can determine which jobs people can accept, which services they can reach and how much choice they have over where to live.

A journey across the Channel has turned into a nightmare this Thursday evening when a minibus carrying lorry drivers was overturned at the entrance of the underground after colliding with a stationary freight train in France, leaving 19 people injured. Several were reported to be in critical condition as emergency crews rushed to the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles, near Calais, to help those caught up in the collision. 

The crash happened at around 8;00pm on the French side of the Channel Tunnel, where lorry drivers board LeShuttle trains to travel between France and UK. The minibus was carrying drivers whose lorries were due to make the crossing by train, according to local media. 

Several in critical condition

The first reports gave conflicting figures for the most seriously injured. French broadcaster TF1, citing the Pas-de-Calais prefecture, has reported five people in critical condition, however current updates, at around 10.15pm, from other sources puts critically injured to two with both men are airlifted to Lille by emergency medical teams from the SAMU services covering Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Four other injured people have been taken to hospital in Calais, three in Boulogne-sur-Mer and one in Montreuil. Nine people are still being examined at the scene in the latest report.

The prefecture confirmed that 19 people were involved in total, including the minibus driver. Despite the severity of the injuries, authorities said no lives are in danger. No deaths had been reported in the initial official assessment and the precise circumstances leading to the collision have not yet been established. 

🚨 Accident sur le site d’Eurotunnel à Coquelles

Un accident impliquant un minibus transportant des chauffeurs poids lourds en partance à bord d’une navette Le Shuttle s’est produit ce soir, au niveau du quai de chargement du site d’Eurotunnel.

D’importants moyens ont été mobilisés immédiatement par Eurotunnel, puis sous l’autorité du préfet du Pas-de-Calais.

Le premier bilan fait état de 19 personnes impliquées, conducteur compris. Aucun décès n’est à déplorer à ce stade et aucun pronostic vital n’est engagé.

La sous-préfète de Calais est actuellement sur place. Un premier point de situation sera communiqué lors d’un point presse prévu à 22 h 15.

— Préfet Pas-de-Calais 🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@Prefet62) October 15, 2026

Emergency services sent to the scene

Around 55 firefighters and 25 emergency medical personnel are involved in the response, alongside approximately 20 officers from the French border police, the Police aux frontières (PAF). Around 100 Eurotunnel staff also attend. According to French regional newspaper La Voix du Nord, this is the first accident of this scale on the tunnel’s loading platform.

Eurotunnel initially mobilised resources before the response came under the authority of the Pas-de-Calais prefecture. The incident involved drivers travelling separately from their lorries, which are carried through the tunnel on dedicated freight services. 

Eurotunnel traffic resumes after 90-minute interruption

Passenger traffic through the Channel Tunnel was interrupted for around an hour and a half following the collision but had resumed by the time of the latest local report. Freight train traffic continued throughout. Eurostar services were not affected. The company confirmed that the accident happened several kilometres from the tunnel itself and did not involve any of its trains. Services to and from London were expected to operate as planned.

LeShuttle and Eurostar are separate services. LeShuttle transports cars, coaches and lorries between Coquelles in France and Folkestone in Kent, while Eurostar carries passengers between London and destinations on mainland Europe. Reports of cancellations affecting the final London–Paris services on Thursday night related to planned engineering works, rather than the crash.  

What caused the accident?

Authorities have not yet confirmed why or how the minibus overturned or provided a full account of how it came collide with the train. The investigation is ongoing, and the initial reports do not establish whether a mechanical problem, human error or another factor contributed to the collision.  The immediate focus remains on those injured and on establishing exactly what happened at the terminal. Further details may emerge as authorities continue their investigation.