Baby dies in migrant crossing after small boat gets into trouble off French coast
A boat carrying migrants towards Britain off the French coast capsized this morning (file photo)
PA
A baby has drowned in the English Channel after a small boat carrying migrants capsized on Thursday evening, French authorities have said.
Search and rescue officials from France managed to rescue some 65 people after the vessel got into trouble off the coast of Wissant, just southeast of Calais.
French authorities dispatched a navy vessel, three other ships and a helicopter to deal with the capsize, launching small motorboats to help retrieve those in the water.
Those rescued were taken back to the port at Boulogne-sur-Mer.
French authorities dispatched a navy vessel, three other ships and a helicopter to deal with the capsize (file photo)
PA
In the midst of the operation, the baby - then unconscious - was pulled from the Channel and transferred to the French Navy's rescue tugboat, the Abeille Normandie.
The infant was later declared dead by a doctor.
The public prosecutor's office in Boulogne-sur-Mer has opened an investigation into the incident, while authorities said searches are ongoing to find any more missing people.
France's maritime prefect has said weather conditions are often difficult in the area where the boat capsized, calling it a "particularly dangerous sector" - even when the "sea seems beautiful".
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Some 27,509 illegal migrants have successfully arrived in Britain on small boats in 2024
PAThe death comes just weeks after six children, a pregnant woman and five others died in a similar incident in the Channel.
In that sinking, on September 3, more than 50 people were rescued off Cape Gris-Nez - just a couple of miles down the beach from today's death near Wissant.
Officials said that that boat had been overloaded and that its bottom "ripped open", while fewer than eight of its passengers had been wearing life jackets.
One source, the BBC reported, suggested a Syrian smuggler might have been involved.
On Saturday, 973 migrants made the crossing - the highest daily figure in 2024
PALocal prosecutor Guirec Le Bras said officials understood the victims to have been "primarily of Eritrean origin" at the time.
Some 27,509 illegal migrants have successfully arrived in Britain on small boats in 2024 - five per cent higher than at the same point last year, but still 26 per cent down on 2022
On Saturday, October 6 alone, 973 migrants made the crossing - the highest daily figure in 2024.
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