French police officers, gendarmes, and rescuers assisted migrants who survived a fatal boat sinking while attempting to cross the English Channel to Britain on Sunday in Tardinghen, northern France.
A migrant lost their life on Sunday while trying to traverse the Channel to Britain, marking the third such tragedy in the past 10 days, according to French officials. The deceased, an Indian national, had embarked from the beach of Tardinghen in the Pas-de-Calais region in northern France. The local prefecture reported that the vessel, in a deplorable state, deflated immediately upon leaving the shore around 5:30 am (0430 GMT). Although not all passengers were equipped with life jackets, most managed to swim back to the beach. One man, approximately 40 years old and of Indian origin, was found in cardio-respiratory arrest and could not be resuscitated by emergency services.
This latest fatality raises the death toll on the France-Britain Channel route to at least 56 in 2024, surpassing any previous year's count with two months still to go. Earlier incidents include the deaths of two men and a woman on Wednesday when their boat capsized approximately two kilometers off the coast near Calais. The week prior, a four-month-old infant perished after a boat disintegrated. Additionally, three migrants were hospitalized on Friday due to injuries or hypothermia sustained during crossing attempts.
Axel Gaudiant, coordinator of the migrant aid association Utopia 46 in Calais, expressed, "We cannot tolerate this migration policy any longer. It is directly responsible for these deaths." Britain and France have collaborated for years to deter individuals from embarking on perilous small boat journeys from northern France. According to the British Home Office, over 29,000 migrants have successfully crossed the Channel since the beginning of 2024.
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