LONDON, England (CNN) -- Thousands of passengers and truckers are stranded in France and England after a fire broke out in the undersea Channel Tunnel linking the two countries.
Security guards at a Eurotunnel check-in booth in Calais, France.
People inside the 50-kilometer (30-mile) tunnel, known as the Chunnel, were evacuated through a service tunnel that runs between the two train-carrying tunnels, Eurotunnel officials said.
Passenger and freight trains on the key route linking Britain to mainland Europe have been canceled until Friday at the earliest.
In Paris, about 1,000 people were reported to have had travel plans disrupted.
The tunnel closure will affect thousands of travelers, said Simon Montague, a spokesman for Eurostar.
"Probably at the order of 2,000 who were actually in transit and several more thousands who would've been hoping to travel with us tonight," he said. "Obviously, our highest priority tonight is to help those travelers who have not been able to complete their journeys."
Police in Kent, England, said the fire broke out 11 kilometers from the French entrance to the tunnel about 3.55 p.m. French time (1355 GMT). Were you on the train? Send photos, videos
The fire continued to burn nearly four hours later, according to Georges Bos, the prefecture of France's Pas de Calais region. He told BFM-TV that six people suffered from smoke inhalation.
A spokesman for French police in Arras added the fire is thought to have begun on a lorry that overturned.
Eurotunnel said 32 people were aboard the shuttle train transporting trucks when the fire broke out.
No passenger trains were going through the tunnel at the time of the fire, they said.
The Channel Tunnel system has two tunnels running trains and the third service tunnel between them. 
Eurotunnel runs the tunnel system and freight train services. Eurostar operates the passenger trains that use the tunnel.
A spokeswoman for Eurostar said none of the company's trains was in the tunnel at the time of the incident.
She said, "We have got services on both sides of the tunnel, and they have been stopped. They are at various stations on either side of the tunnel. We are looking at what to do with them."
Eurostar issued a statement Thursday night saying that service will be suspended Friday and that passengers holding tickets for Friday "are advised not to travel." Passengers can exchange their tickets for travel on a later date or get a refund. Those holding tickets for Saturday or Sunday travel should check Eurostar's Web site for updates, the company said.
Geoff Dossetter, external affairs director with the UK's Freight Transport Association, says that about 60 percent of UK exports to the European Union go through the tunnel.
The $15 billion undersea tunnel opened in 1994, and it now takes just over two hours for the passenger train trip from London to Paris. There are also passenger services to Brussels, Belgium.
A massive fire broke out inside the tunnel in November 1996, causing structural damage but no serious injuries. A truck on a Eurotunnel lorry shuttle caught fire before the train entered the tunnel, and the fire spread to nearby cars.
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