A devastating migrant crossing incident in the English Channel has claimed three lives, including a 10-year-old child, French regional authorities have confirmed. Two adult women, both aged 30, also lost their lives when the overloaded small vessel carrying migrants encountered serious distress shortly after departing northern France.
The emergency response was triggered after a distress call was received from the boat, which was attempting the dangerous crossing to the United Kingdom from Blériot Plage, a popular beach on the Calais coast. According to official records, the small craft was carrying 105 passengers when it got into trouble early on Monday morning.
The French Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea, which oversees maritime search and rescue operations in the region, confirmed that initial emergency care was provided to the three stricken passengers directly on the rescue craft. However, a specialist emergency medical team, airlifted to the scene by helicopter, later officially pronounced all three dead.
All surviving passengers were safely transferred to shore, with rescue vessels completing disembarkation at the Port of Calais later the same morning, according to reports from Agence France-Presse. The tragedy comes amid years of rising irregular migration attempts across the English Channel, which remains one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and a notoriously dangerous crossing for small, unfit vessels.