Eight people feared dead while trying to cross English Channel
Eight people are feared to have died while trying to cross the English Channel, according to French authorities.
Their small boat had issued a mayday after getting into difficulty off the coast of France, in the commune of Ambleteuse near Calais, after 1am.
Six hours later, the group launched another attempt at the same location.
At least 18 crossing attempts were made with different boats on Saturday when the sea was relatively calm.
An emergency worker said: ‘Bodies were being taken up on to a ramp at Ambleteuse, yet, by 7am, a second boat departure took place there too.
‘Boats have been setting off in the area throughout the weekend – there have been non-stop rescues.’
Foreign Secretary David Lammy described the deaths as awful during an appearance on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg this morning.
He said: ‘The awful rubber dinghies that people are coming across the Channel with, many of them of course not able to make it in these contraptions.’
Jacques Billant, prefect of Pas de Calais, put the provisional death toll at eight, saying: ‘Several migrants lost their lives.
‘A zodiac craft carrying around 50 people ran aground.’
No further information is known about the passengers, or if there were any survivors.
These latest deaths now mean that at least 45 people have died in Channel crossings so far this year, higher than last year’s death toll of 12.
Less than two weeks ago, a pregnant woman and six children were among the 12 people who died when their dinghy broke up at sea, the deadliest incident this year so far.
Only eight of the 70 passengers were wearing lifejackets, France’s interior minister Gerald Darmanin said.
In total 65 of them survived.
Roughly 200 people were saved by the French authorities off the coast of Calais in a 24-hour period between Friday and Saturday night.
This includes one boat carrying 55 people, all of whom survived after being rescued in poor conditions at sea near Le Portel.
More than 21,000 people have crossed the English Channel on small boats so far this year, according to the Home Office.
The Foreign Secretary told the BBC the government has been discussing how to tackle smuggling gangs, which charge around £1000-a-head for a passage to Britain.
French police are searching for the people smugglers behind last night’s singking as prosecutors launch a criminal investigation.
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