At least 58 UK-bound migrants including four women and a toddler were rescued from an overcrowded boat that sunk in the English Channel today.
The inflatable dinghy collapsed around six miles from Calais, after launching from the French coast in the early hours of Sunday.
It was one of multiple craft arranged by people smugglers that attempted the crossing, on a day of relatively good weather.
Another boat sent out a Mayday call after setting off from Le Portel, in Boulogne-sur-Mer, and around 38 migrants were taken off by the Minck, a rescue boat chartered by the French government.
Other were left on board, and allowed to continue with their journey to Britain.
Two Naval helicopters took part in the rescue operation around the boat which sunk, which ended at around 11am with everybody thought to be have been taken to safety.
‘Three were suffering from hypothermia, while one unconscious man was airlifted to hospital in Boulogne,’ said a spokesman for the Maritime Prefecture.
He said a two-year-old child and four women were among those rescued.
Five people were later interviewed by Border Police investigating the attempted crossing, while 40 were released without questioning.
Those on board including Afghans, Iranians, Tanzanians, Vietnamese, Ghanaians, Sudanese and Sri Lankans.
New UK government data shows a record 1,489 migrants made the journey across the Channel from the start of January to February 6.
This is up from the 1,382 who made the same crossing from France during the same time window in 2024.
In January, a Syrian man became the first UK-bound migrant of 2025 to die in the Channel after being crushed to death in an overcrowded boat.
Such horrific deaths have become common on a route that claimed 77 lives in 2024.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said of such tragedies: ‘Our government will intensify the fight against these mafias who are getting rich by organising these crossings of death.’
In April last year, a criminal enquiry was launched following the deaths of five migrants including a little girl around Wimereux, near Calais.
The worst tragedy of this kind came in November 2021, when 27 migrants died after a dinghy sank while heading to the UK – the highest recorded number of deaths from a single incident.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have pledged to ‘strengthen cooperation’ to fight the people smugglers, but they are regulary criticised for not doing enough.
More to follow.