Children and pregnant woman among 'at least 12 dead' after migrant boat 'ripped open' in Channel

3 September 2024, 19:15 | Updated: 3 September 2024, 23:53

A pregnant woman was among at least 12 people who died when the dinghy they were using to cross the Channel from France capsized.

About 70 people were on the seven-metre boat, with 51 rescued by the French coastguard on Tuesday morning. It represented the deadliest disaster in the Channel so far this year.

Two people remain in critical condition after the incident. Fewer than eight people onboard were wearing life jackets

Many of the migrants on board were women from the Horn of Africa, on the east of the continent. French officials said that ten of the people who died were female.

Emergency services were deployed in large numbers to the Channel at around 9:30 GMT on Tuesday.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper branded the incident "horrifying and deeply tragic" as she said "vital" efforts to dismantle "dangerous and criminal smuggler gangs" and to boost border security "must proceed apace".

France’s outgoing interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said: "Terrible shipwreck in Pas-de-Calais, off Wimereux. The provisional toll stands at 12 dead, two missing and several injured."

'65 people were onboard a vessel that disintegrated': 12 people dead as migrant boat capsizes

The French coastguard added the boat was attempted to cross over to the UK from France on Tuesday.

The vessel is said to have got into trouble around 28 miles southwest of Calais.

The UK's border security and asylum minister, Angela Eagle, told of a "worrying trend" of boats being fuller than in the past.

She added that the quality of the boats was "deteriorating", which means that "these crossings are getting more and more dangerous as time goes on".

The maritime prefecture said a search and rescue mission was launched after the incident off the coast of Cap Gris-Nez on Tuesday morning, where all the people on board the dingy ended up in the water.

They added that several of the migrants needed emergency medical care, with treatment being carried out at Boulogne-sur-Mer.

Several reports suggest white tarpaulins were seen on the quayside following the rescue attempt.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "What has happened off the coast at Le Portel is a horrifying and deeply tragic incident, and our hearts go out to the loved ones of all those who have lost their lives, and all those who have been seriously injured. I am in touch with my counterpart in France, Gérald Darmanin, and am being kept updated on the situation.

"We pay tribute to the French coastguard and emergency services who undoubtedly saved many lives, but sadly could not save everyone. We will await the results of the French investigation into how this particular incident unfolded.

"The gangs behind this appalling and callous trade in human lives have been cramming more and more people onto increasingly unseaworthy dinghies, and sending them out into the Channel even in very poor weather.

"They do not care about anything but the profits they make, and that is why – as well as mourning the awful loss of life – the work to dismantle these dangerous and criminal smuggler gangs and to strengthen border security is so vital and must proceed apace.:

Read more: Sentencing of boy, 12, for disorder during riots delayed because his mum is on five-day sunshine break in Ibiza

Read more: Astronauts hear strange 'pulsing sounds' from Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, sparking NASA investigation

In a statement, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesperson said: “HM Coastguard received a report of a small boat in difficulty in the English Channel, in French waters north of Boulogne, at about 6.50am on 3 September.

"The response was coordinated by French authorities. Assistance offered by HM Coastguard was not required."

Amnesty International UK said: “No amount of ‘smash the gangs’ policing and government rhetoric is going to stop these disasters from unfolding time and again if the needs of people exploited by those gangs remain unaddressed.”

Safe Passage International said: “Today’s tragedy must be the last. We must not accept this government’s refusal to prioritise opening new safe routes.”

Just last month French President Emmanuel Macron said there was "no silver bullet" to stopping the small boats crisis.

It comes as Sir Keir Starmer called for greater co-operation between the UK and Europe where migrant crossings are concerned.

The incident comes as more migrants arrived in Dover on Tuesday after crossing the English Channel.

Pictures show men, women and children coming ashore from Dungeness lifeboat and Border Force vessels.