At least one person dead and dozens rescued as migrant boat crossing Channel capsizes
At least one person has died and dozens of others have been rescued after a migrant boat crossing the English Channel capsized.
Five other people were recovered in “serious condition” and at least 50 people have been rescued, French authorities said.
A search and rescue operation involving five French ships, two British ships and a helicopter is under way following the incident off Cap Gris Nez in northern France.
Local mayor Franck Dhersin said a vast rescue operation was launched at around 4am UK time, as dozens of boats tried to make the crossing at the same time.
He said: “Near Sangatte they unfortunately found dead people”.
A UK government spokesperson says it is “aware of the incident in the Channel”, adding: “HM Coastguard are working on a coordinated response and further information will be provided in due course.”
One volunteer who was on board one of the rescue boats described the migrants’ frantic efforts to bale water out of their sinking vessel using their shoes.
Anne Thorel said: “We saved 54 people, including one woman… There were too many of them on the (migrant) boat.”
Meanwhile France’s Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said: “Unfortunately, six people were recovered in serious condition and one of them, evacuated by helicopter to Calais hospital, was declared dead.”
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HM Coastguard said it is assisting French authorities in response to the incident involving a “small boat”, adding that a Dover RNLI lifeboat has been sent as part of that assistance with Folkestone and Langdon Bay coastguard rescue teams.
The UK coastguard is also working with the South East Coast Ambulance Service.
An investigation has also been opened by the Boulogne prosecutor’s office.
The number of people who have crossed the English Channel in small boats in the past five years has passed 100,000.
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The latest Home Office figures show 755 migrants were detected in the Channel on Thursday, the highest daily figure so far this year.
The Channel is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and currents are strong. Human traffickers typically overload rickety dinghies, leaving them barely afloat and at risk of being lashed by the waves as they try to reach British shores.
The incident comes as Rishi Sunak’s government spent the week making announcements about its efforts to reduce the number of asylum seekers, hoping to win support from voters as the ruling Conservative Party trails in opinion polls.