Photo credit; the independent
At least eight UK-bound migrants were downed today in the latest small boat disaster in the English Channel.
Mirror reports that the French emergency services received a Mayday from a dinghy that became stranded off the coast of Ambleteuse, near Calais. However, within six hours, migrants took out another boat in the exact location.
“Bodies were being taken up onto a ramp at Ambleteuse, yet, by 7 am, a second boat departure took place there too. Boats have been setting off in the area throughout the weekend – there have been non-stop rescues,” an emergency worker said.
According to the Regional Operational Centre for Surveillance and Rescue at Cap Gris-Nez, a commune in the Calais area, groups of migrants made at least eighteen attempts to reach UK shores on Saturday.
“Several migrants lost their lives,” said Jacques Billant, the Pas de Calais prefect. He put the provisional death toll at eight. He also said a zodiac craft carrying around fifty people ran aground, adding that the eight unidentified migrants were declared dead at the scene.
About two weeks ago, twelve people, including a pregnant woman and six children, were killed when their flimsy dinghy broke up in the sea nearby.
While speaking this morning, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said, “It’s awful. It’s a further loss of life.”
British Prime Minister Ker Starmer will be in Italy on Monday for talks with counterpart Giorgia Meloni about her efforts to tackle the problem.
The latest deaths mean at least forty-five people have died in Channel crossings so far this year compared with twelve for the whole of 2023. The worst previous incident was in November 2021, when 27 people died after their dinghy inflatable collapsed
