A total of 66 people were travelling on the refugee boat which sank off the northern coast of France in the early hours of Friday, according to French authorities.
ADVERTISEMENTOne migrant died on the night between Thursday and Friday and another was seriously injured after the boat they were travelling on sank during its attempt to cross the Channel, according to French officials.
The boat, which had around 60 people on board, went down 8km off the coast of Gravelines, in northern France, the French maritime prefecture announced on Friday. All 66 migrants aboard the boat were rescued at around 12:30 a.m., half an hour after authorities were alerted of the issue. Two people were found to be unconscious.
One, who presented “life-threatening conditions” according to French authorities, was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Calais, while the other could not be resuscitated and died. All other migrants were brought to Calais.
According to French authorities in contact with the rescue ships who helped the castaways, the boat the migrants were travelling on had a “deflated” tube and people were “in the water.”
Sea and air searches of the area continued on Friday morning, authorities said.
A total of 29,000 migrants have crossed the Channel on small boats to reach the UK since the beginning of 2023, according to French authorities, down from 44,000 last year on the same date.