French authorities reported that one person died overnight after an “overloaded” migrant boat sank off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France.
The Maritime Prefect of the Channel and the North Sea confirmed the small vessel collapsed while crossing the Channel. During the rescue, a French Navy helicopter spotted an unconscious individual in the water, who was later declared dead by a medical team onboard the French tug Abeille Normandie.
More than 60 others were rescued from the water, including a mother and child airlifted to a hospital in France. The Abeille Normandie recovered 50 survivors, while two British boats—a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) vessel and a UK Border Force boat—rescued an additional 11 people.
In the week leading up to Saturday, 1,125 migrants successfully crossed the Channel on small boats, one of the world’s busiest waterways.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to crack down on people smugglers facilitating these dangerous crossings. Starmer recently sparked controversy by warning that the UK risks becoming an “island of strangers” unless immigration numbers are reduced. His remarks came shortly after the anti-immigration Reform UK party’s success in local elections on May 1.
