Eight migrants die in tragic Channel crossing off the French coast

FRANCE: Eight migrants died early Sunday when their overcrowded boat capsized while attempting to cross the Channel from France to England, French authorities said, less than two weeks after the deadliest such disaster this year.

The latest tragedy means 46 migrants have already died trying to reach England from France this year, a regional official said, and 12 in 2023.

The French and British governments have been trying for years to stop the influx of migrants who pay smugglers thousands of euros per head for the crossing in overloaded rubber dinghies.

A police source told AFP that the accident occurred shortly after the ship boarded.

Regional prefect Jacques Billant said the incident occurred around 1 a.m. on Saturday off the coast of the northern town of Ambleteuse.

“The result is shocking, eight people are said to have died,” he told the press near the scene of the accident.

Six survivors were hospitalized, including a 10-month-old baby with hypothermia, he added.

The boat had started from the Slack River, which flows into the sea between the towns of Wimereux and Ambleteuse.

There were 59 people on board from Eritrea, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt and Iran, Billant said.

“It quickly got into trouble and ran aground… The boat was smashed on the rocks,” he said.