David Cameron has blamed the Calais crisis on a "swarm" of migrants crossing the Mediterranean - as hundreds more stormed the Channel Tunnel.

The government is resisting mounting calls for the Army to be sent in to deal with the deepening crisis, which has claimed the life of at least one migrant this week.

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The man, believed to be a Sudanese national, was killed on Tuesday night after he was reportedly crushed by a truck.

Speaking in Vietnam during his south-east Asian tour, the Prime Minister said the French had sent an extra 120 police and the UK was investing in fencing and security measures at the Channel crossings in Calais and Coquelles.

The Prime Minister told ITV News: "This is very testing, I accept that, because you have got a swarm of people coming across the Mediterranean, seeking a better life, wanting to come to Britain because Britain has got jobs, it's got a growing economy, it's an incredible place to live.

"But we need to protect our borders by working hand in glove with our neighbours the French and that is exactly what we are doing."

mf Nine people have been killed attempting to cross the Channel in the last month, according to Eurotunnel.

Some 2,000 attempts were made to get to the tunnel on Monday and 1,500 more on Tuesday night and the early hours of Wednesday morning, the operator said.

It is thought that up to 148 people made it to the UK after Monday's incursion.

Despite the risks, hundreds of migrants - some looking as young as 13 or 14 - gathered for a third night along the fence to the freight terminal in Coquelles.

They dashed through holes in the wire and used clothes to help them jump over fences.

Many migrants told how they had made perilous journeys across several countries in a bid to make it to Britain.

Mohammad Al-Mohammad, 26, from Aleppo, Syria, said he had walked and hitchhiked from a refugee camp in Turkey, through Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Austria and Italy before arriving in France three months ago.

He said: "I have tried maybe nine or 10 times to get to the tunnel but I have failed.

"I have come here for many reasons. The Syrian regime wanted me for military service.

"I graduated from the University of Aleppo after three years and Isis (Islamic State) wanted me to teach the kids (to be) jihadists and I refused."

Another man, who did not want to give his name, said 13 people had died after the boat he had boarded to cross from Libya had capsized.

mfl The British and French governments have pledged to increase co-operation and bolster security, with 120 additional French police officers deployed to try to stem the tide.

But the latest breaches raised fresh calls for the Army to be sent in to tackle the escalating crisis, which has wreaked travel chaos on both side of the Channel.

Kent Police have implemented Operation Stack, where long queues of lorries are parked on the M20 when cross-Channel crossings are disrupted, and it is expected to last into the weekend.

mf The Road Haulage Association (RHA) called for the French army to be drafted in to help, and warned the lives of British lorry drivers are being put in danger - echoing concerns raised by Ukip leader Nigel Farage.

Kevin Hurley, the police and crime commissioner for Surrey, called for Gurkha soldiers based at Shorncliffe barracks in Folkestone to be deployed to protect Britain's border.

mfl Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "The crisis at Calais is getting worse and the diplomacy with the French government isn't working to get a sustainable solution. Still not enough is being done to stop a difficult situation becoming desperate.

"We need far more action from the French Government to assess people arriving in France, to prevent people reaching Calais in the first place and to police the roads where lorries are targets. And that means British ministers need to be putting on maximum diplomatic pressure and working closely to get the response from France and other European countries."

mfl Ukip leader Nigel Farage said the Prime Minister was trying to "sound tough" on the Calais crisis.

Asked if he would use the word "swarm", Mr Farage told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "No. No, I'm not seeking to use language like that.

"The Prime Minister is this morning trying to sound tough. Whether he actually means it or not is quite a separate question."

mfl The United Nations Secretary General's special representative on international migration, Peter Sutherland, said demands for economic migrants to be kept out of the UK are "a xenophobic response to the issue of free movement".

Mr Sutherland told BBC2's Victoria Derbyshire programme: "In my opinion, the debate in the UK is grossly excessive in terms of Calais. We are talking here about a number of people - a relatively small number in the context of what other countries are having to do - who are in terrible conditions and have to be dealt with by France and/or Britain."

The migrants crossing the Mediterranean by boat are "in the main" genuine refugees fleeing violence and persecution, he said.

"Germany last year received 175,000 asylum applications. Britain received 24,000," said Mr Sutherland.

"We are talking here about between 5,000 and 10,000 people in Calais who are living in terrible conditions. The first thing we have to do collectively is to deal with their conditions. Instead of talking about sending Gurkhas or building fences, we should be thinking of the humanitarian crisis."

Mr Sutherland urged the UK to join the common European approach to the migrant issue, warning: "Anybody who thinks that by erecting borders or fences in some way a particular state can be protected from alleged 'floods' - which are anything but floods - of migrants is living in cloud cuckoo land."