Eight migrants die while attempting to cross English Channel - as 10-month-old baby left in critical condition
15 September 2024, 08:24 | Updated: 15 September 2024, 15:29
At least eight migrants have died while attempting to cross the English Channel, with a 10-month-old baby having been rushed to hospital in critical condition.
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The incident happened off the coast of Ambleteuse in the Pas-de-Calais region of northern France overnight, local media said.
Jacques Billant, the prefect of Pas-de-Calais, said the boat "quickly" got into trouble after it set off, and appears to have crashed into rocks.
He said six people were taken to hospital "in relative emergency," including a 10-month-old baby with hypothermia.
The eight who died were all adult men.
Survivors of the accident come from Eritrea, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt and Iran, he added.
A UK Government spokesperson said French authorities are leading the investigation.
"We can confirm there has been an incident in the Channel involving a small boat in French waters," the spokesperson said.
"French authorities are leading the response and investigation. We will not be commenting further at this stage."
British Red Cross said the deaths were "tragic", as the charity organisation called for more safe crossing routes for migrants.
"Nobody risks their life travelling across the Channel in a small boat unless they feel they have no other choice," the director for refugee support, Alex Fraser, said.
"More safe routes are urgently needed to help prevent people from taking dangerous journeys to reach the UK."
Around 200 people have been rescued in the past 24 hours trying to make the dangerous journey.
It comes more than a week after 12 people died - including six children and a pregnant woman - when a boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of France.
More than 30 people have died in Channel crossings so far this year.
Responding to the incident, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "It's awful. It's a further loss of life."
It comes as Keir Starmer is set to visit Italy on Monday for talks with counterpart Giorgia Meloni about her efforts to tackle the migrant crisis "and the work they have done, particularly, with Albania".
The PM has said he is interested in the rollout of the policy, under which Tirana will accept asylum seekers on Italy's behalf while their claims are processed.
