Five people die in attempted Channel boat crossing to UK

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Five people including one child died in an attempt to cross the Channel from France to England in a crowded boat around dawn on Tuesday.

The accident occurred off the coast near to a beach at Wimereux. French officials said the boat was carrying more than 110 people.

“A sudden crowd movement apparently occurred in the overloaded boat, causing several casualties,” said the Prefecture de Pas de Calais.

The incident is the deadliest in the Channel so far this year after another in mid-January that killed four people.

The deaths occurred hours after UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak secured parliamentary approval after midnight on Monday for his controversial policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Sunak has cast the plan as a way to deter people from coming to the UK across the Channel on small boats and said it would “break the business model of the criminal gangs who exploit them”.

Enver Solomon, who heads the UK’s Refugee Council, said the only “sustainable way” to reduce crossings was to create more ways for people to safely apply for asylum.

“We need to see safe routes for those fleeing conflict and persecution, including more options for family reunion, refugee visas and co-operation with our European neighbours,” said Solomon.

The Voix du Nord newspaper reported that helicopters, ambulances and the coast guard had been deployed in response to the accident. About 100 people rescued from the boat were being taken to a nearby port.

An investigation into the accident has been opened and assigned to prosecutors in Boulogne-sur-Mer.

More people attempt the crossing in spring and summer when the conditions at sea are more favourable than in winter.

Just under 30,000 people entered the UK by crossing the Channel on small boats in 2023, down a third from the previous year, according to Home Office figures.

But so far this year about 6,265 people have arrived in the UK on small boats, a 25 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2023.

The UK and France last year signed a beefed up security agreement aimed at reducing the number of small boats crossings, which included €541mn in payments to France over three years.

The funds have been used to hire an extra 500 officers, and to increase patrols and surveillance on beaches where people smugglers are known to operate from.

A new detention centre is also being built with both British and French government funds.

Additional reporting by Robert Wright