- Laura Gozzi & Alice Davis
- BBC News, London
French authorities said five people, including a 7-year-old girl, died while trying to cross the English Channel early Tuesday morning.
The victims said they were trying to reach Britain in an overloaded boat carrying 112 migrants.
Authorities said the boat first ran aground on a sandbar after leaving Vimereux near Boulogne, then continued on.
Several search and rescue operations are underway to find survivors.
The mayor of Pas-de-Calais, where Vimereux is located, said the ship “sailed from Plage des Allemands with an unprecedented 112 people on board.”
“The engine stopped a few hundred meters from the shore and several people fell into the sea,” Jacques Bilan told reporters.
He said the Abeille-Normandie patrol boat was immediately dispatched to rescue the people who had set off in the boat. When they arrived, several people were “unconscious and in a very difficult situation.”
Six people were placed on patrol boards and then taken to shore for treatment by emergency services.
“Five of them died despite resuscitation attempts,” Virant said.
“We take pictures with her with a big smile on her face, hoping for a better life,” he said.
Patou said she saw her child's father crying after the tragedy. ”[He] He fell into our arms…he watched his little girl die before his eyes. ”
Mr Biran said 47 more people were rescued from the boat by French authorities, but another 57 did not want to be rescued and remained on board.
“They managed to get the engines started again and decided to continue their journey to England under naval surveillance.”
British Border Force said on Tuesday that it had landed about 70 migrants. It added that there were more people on board the ship bound for Dover.
BBC correspondent Andrew Harding saw the rubber dinghy leave the shore early on Tuesday morning. He explained that there were clashes between police and migrants as people tried to board the boats.
But once the migrants were on board, police made no further attempt to stop them, he said. One man was arrested after he was unable to find space on the boat, and police suggested he may have provided the boat to the migrants.
British Home Secretary James Cleverley said: “These tragedies must stop. The current situation, which is costing so many lives, is unacceptable.”
Mr Cleverley said the UK government was doing everything it could to “destroy the business model” of “evil smuggling gangs”.
A spokesman for the British Prime Minister said the deaths in the Channel were “extremely tragic” and said: “The human cost of these Channel crossings and the criminal organizations that exploit people to make these Channels so dangerous are… “This is a tragic reminder of why it is so important to stop it.” Journey”.
Last night, the UK Parliament passed Chancellor Rishi Sunak's flagship bill, the Rwanda Bill, after months of debate. The law aims to send migrants arriving in small boats to have their asylum claims processed in Rwanda, which the UK government claims will deter smugglers.
Local French media reported that dozens of boats left port at around 3 a.m. local time (1 a.m. GMT) on Tuesday, when weather conditions were favorable and seas were calm.
