At least six migrants have died when a boat headed for the UK capsized

At least six people trying to reach the United Kingdom across the English Channel died when the boat they were traveling in sank, French officials said today.

A spokeswoman for the French coast authority, Bremar, said 55 people had been rescued, and the search was continuing to find between 5 and 10 missing.

Three French ships, a helicopter and aircraft were mustered to search the area off Sangatte in northern France, along with two British ships.

The French prosecutor’s office said that the first victim identified was a man between 25 and 30 years of Afghan origin who was transported by helicopter to a hospital in the French city of Calais, but later died.

And the French news agency quoted a spokeswoman for Bremar as saying that five other people in critical condition were taken to Calais on a lifeboat, but they were declared dead upon the arrival of the boat.

The boat capsized around 2 am (21 yesterday in Argentina) off the northern coast of France, according to the prosecutor’s office.

“My thoughts are with the victims,” ​​French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne wrote on the X social network, for example.

This road, one of the busiest in the world, has been the scene of many shipwrecks in recent years.

Despite the danger of the road, migrants are still trying to reach the United Kingdom through this channel, which since 2018 has crossed more than 100,000 people illegally, on small boats, according to official figures released by London yesterday.

The number of cross-Channel crossings by speedboats originating mainly from France began in 2018, when the closure of Calais port and the Eurotunnel terminal made it difficult or impossible for migrants to cross by truck, encouraging people smugglers to choose the sea. road.

Yesterday, the British government had to evacuate a barge set up as a detention center for illegal immigrants, after bacteria were discovered in the water.

According to the authorities, no one was injured.