Four dead after small boat capsizes while trying to cross Channel
Four people have died after a small boat sank in the English Channel this morning.
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The boat sank off the coast of Bolougne in the early hours of this morning.
A rescue operation was launched just after 7am with reports of multiple people in the water.
Local French authorities in Calais said: "A taxiboat sinking occurred today. The situation is still being assessed and remains subject to change."
A local emergency services spokesman said: "Ambulances and police arrived on Équihen beach soon after 7.30am, when a number of bodies were found in the water. At least four deaths were quickly confirmed."
Around 30 people are being cared for by emergency services.
Charlotte Khan, head of advocacy and public affairs at Care4Calais, said: “Another four lives have been needlessly lost to our deadly border.
“As our Government continues to focus on ineffective deterrents, tragedies continue to happen. These deaths are on their hands. They could end the deaths on our border overnight by introducing safe routes for refugees to claim asylum in the UK.
“That they won’t is a political choice which shames them.”
Sam Turner, Director of Migration and Displacement, at the British Red Cross said: “It is devastating to see people lose their lives attempting to cross the Channel.
"We continue to see men, women and children taking these perilous journeys in search of safety, as they flee war, violence and persecution.
"Our thoughts are with all those affected by this tragedy.
“We know from our decades of experience supporting people seeking asylum, no one risks their life like this unless they feel they have no other option. We need more safe routes to prevent people taking these dangerous journeys to reach the UK.”
Between 1 January and 26 March 2026, a total of 4,441 people crossed the English Channel by small boat from France, according to official figures.
This is 33% lower than the number who had reached the UK by this point in 2025, which was 6,642, although weather conditions are believed to have played a part.
The tragedy comes days after France rejected a British offer to intercept and return small boats.
France rejected a proposal from Shabana Mahmood to deploy British Border Force vessels to intercept small boats and return them to France.
The home secretary put forward the plan as part of negotiations to renew the multimillion-pound migrant patrol deal.
More than a hundred migrants are believed to have crossed the Channel on Wednesday, which would take the total arrivals this year to more than 5,000, as smugglers took advantage of the warmer weather and calmer conditions at sea.