Four migrants die in new attempts to cross English Channel

A migrant died on Wednesday while trying to cross Channel to Britain, French authorities said, although the date of death of three more people found dead on beaches is unknown.

The findings bring the number of deaths related to overcrowded boat crossings this year to about 60.

British and French authorities seek to crack down on people smuggling gangs, activists say traffickers are now forcing large groups of migrants hoping for a better life in the UK onto increasingly unsafe boats.

The man who died on Wednesday was one of about 15 people who fell into the sea off Ardelot in northern France, the French maritime prefecture of the Channel and North Sea said.

The helicopter carried the migrant to the landing, where he was pronounced dead.

Fire chief Baptiste Gournay said the man was 28 years old, and the Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor’s office said he was “possibly Kuwaiti.”

In total, 61 people were saved, including one whose condition was very serious, and five more were also taken to the hospital.

Gournay said three other migrants were also fighting for their lives after a second rescue operation in the Merlimont area, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) to the south.

According to the prefecture, many people tried to cross the border during the night and early morning as weather conditions were calm.

Hours after the deaths, the bodies of three migrants were found on separate beaches in northern France, including in Ardelot.

It is unclear when the men may have died.

“We are still counting the dead,” said Assistant Prosecutor Patrick Leleu.

“One death every five days”

The blue-and-black boat lay deflated on the beach in Ardelot on Wednesday morning, an AFP journalist saw.

Rescue services were deployed on shore, including fire engines with flashing lights.

Rescuers took about 20 migrants to a nearby building to keep warm.

About three kilometers (about two miles) from shore, reporters saw six wet migrants, some wrapped in survival blankets, sitting on a bench.

A member of migrant charity Utopia 56 said several people suffered “severe hypothermia” after falling into the sea.

The increase in the number of migrants and shelter Seekers have been crossing the English Channel since 2018, despite repeated warnings about the dangerous journey.

After Wednesday’s fatal accident near the same beach, an AFP reporter saw about 70 people, including children, enter the water to board a boat. Some were wearing life jackets, while others were clutching a giant inflatable ring.

After the engine failed to start, about 40 people disembarked and returned to the beach.

The inflatable vessel eventually set off with about 30 people on board.

Overnight, AFP journalists saw two groups set off in the dark from Sangatta, an area further north, near the port city of Calais.

Celestine Pichot of Utopia 56 said the situation is “more than dramatic.”

“For several months, one person died every five days trying to cross the English Channel,” he said.

“Land and sea rescue services are completely overwhelmed.”

Drownings and fatal collisions on overcrowded boats since January have made 2024 the deadliest year for migrants trying to reach Britain by sea since 2018.

An Indian man died off the coast of France on Sunday while attempting to cross the English Channel.

On Wednesday last week, a woman and two men died after their small boat sank in the English Channel near Calais.

A week earlier, a four-month-old baby died in an overloaded boat heading to the port. United Kingdom.

More than 1,500 migrants have landed on British shores in the past week, according to the UK Home Office.

(AFP)