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At least 12 people have died and others are feared missing after a boat carrying more than 60 migrants sank off the French coast.
All those onboard were plunged into the water in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes when the bottom of the vessel ripped open, French officials said.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper described the tragedy as “horrifying and deeply tragic” as she paid tribute to the French coastguard and emergency services who she said “undoubtedly saved many lives, but sadly could not save everyone”.
She also hit out at criminal gangs who she said had been “cramming more and more people onto increasingly unseaworthy dinghies, and sending them out into the Channel even in very poor weather”.
A major air and sea operation was launched on Tuesday after the boat got into difficulty off Gris-Nez point, close to Calais.
“Unfortunately, the bottom of the boat ripped open,” said Olivier Barbarin, mayor of Le Portel near the fishing port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, where a first-aid post was set up to treat victims.
He added that rescuers had recovered 61 people from the water.
France’s interior minister Gerald Darmanin confirmed that 12 people had died and two were missing.
Helicopters and boats were involved in the rescue operation, and many of those rescued were brought ashore at Le Portel, on the south side of Boulogne harbour.
Tackling illegal immigration has been a priority for both the British and French governments in recent years, yet more than 2,100 people have still arrived in Britain on small boats over the past seven days, according to official UK figures.
Before the latest tragedy, at least 30 people had already died or gone missing while trying to make the crossing this year alone, according to the International Organisation for Migration – up from 12 in 2023.
Related: ‘I will never forgive myself’: Father recalls heartbreaking moment daughter died on small boat
Labour scrapped the Conservative government’s ‘small boats’ scheme – designed to send those who arrive in the UK that way to Rwanda – within days of coming to office.
Ministers denounced the policy as a “gimmick” that had failed in its central aim – to deter the crossings.
Labour has vowed to go after people-smuggling gangs and to increase cooperation with European nations.
Ms Cooper moved to establish a new Border Security Command in her first days in office.
Last week, Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron pledged to work together more closely to dismantle migrant smuggling routes.
Nadine Tunasi, of the charity Freedom From Torture, said: “I know from the survivors I work with that no one gets into an overcrowded and unseaworthy dingy to cross one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes without a desperate need to find safety.
“Too much time has been wasted on gimmicks and hateful politics, while conflict continues to push people to take dangerous routes to sanctuary.”
While Ms Tunasi said ministers were “right to focus on conflict resolution and humanitarian aid to stem the flow of desperate refugees”, she warned that “this will take time, and in the absence of safe routes people like me will be forced to continue to risk their lives”.
In a statement Ms Cooper said: “What has happened off the coast at Le Portel is a horrifying and deeply tragic incident, and our hearts go out to the loved ones of all those who have lost their lives, and all those who have been seriously injured. I am in touch with my counterpart in France, Gérald Darmanin, and am being kept updated on the situation.
“We pay tribute to the French coastguard and emergency services who undoubtedly saved many lives, but sadly could not save everyone. We will await the results of the French investigation into how this particular incident unfolded.
“The gangs behind this appalling and callous trade in human lives have been cramming more and more people onto increasingly unseaworthy dinghies, and sending them out into the Channel even in very poor weather.
“They do not care about anything but the profits they make, and that is why – as well as mourning the awful loss of life – the work to dismantle these dangerous and criminal smuggler gangs and to strengthen border security is so vital and must proceed apace.”
Additional reporting by AP