Six people have died with between five and ten others missing after a migrant boat sank in the English Channel on Saturday, coastguard announced.
The search for other potential victims is continuing off the coast of Sangatte (Pas-de-Calais) has seen a French and British ships mobilised, as well as a helicopter the prefecture said, adding that around fifty passengers from the boat had been rescued.
On Thursday night, the French authorities spotted three boats in difficulty off the coast of Pas-de-Calais, the prefecture had said on Friday evening. Fifty-eight survivors were on board the first boat. All were treated, some also suffering from minor burns.
The second boat was carrying around thirty passengers. Nine people left the boat to reach the coast when the dinghy apparently became blocked by a sandbank in the middle of the night. The 25 people still on board initially continued their journey, despite a deflated float. Early this morning, however, engine damage triggered a new rescue operation.
Several people have been taken to hospital after a boat carrying migrants sank in the Channel. A number of people were seen being brought off the Dover lifeboat on stretchers. pic.twitter.com/04ckmuEnJ4
— Simon Jones (@SimonJonesNews) August 12, 2023
The third boat was described as being heavily laden, with around 60 people on board. In the early hours of the morning, 33 of them were taken in by the French coastguard while the rest of the passengers continued on to the UK. However, engine damage subsequently prevented the vessel from moving, with those still on board rescued late in the morning by the British authorities.
As of 10 August, 15,826 people have crossed the Channel in small boats in 2023, UK government figures show.
