A migrant has died after falling into the sea while attempting to cross the Channel to Britain in an overcrowded small boat, French authorities said.
The man was among dozens of people who fell into the water near Hardelot in northern France, the French Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said.
He was rescued from the sea and flown to land by helicopter, where he was tragically pronounced dead.
This brings the number of deaths from crossings in overcrowded rubber dinghies this year to 57.
Many people attempted the dangerous crossing today and have been leaving since early this morning due to favourable weather conditions, French authorities said.
A photo from May shows migrants waiting to be rescued after their boat’s generator broke down in French waters
A deflated blue-black rubber dinghy was beached on Wednesday morning, a journalist at the scene reported.
Rescue services, including fire engines with flashing lights, were sent to the coast.
Rescue workers led about 20 migrants to a nearby building to warm up.
About two miles from shore, journalists saw six soaked migrants, some wrapped in survival blankets, sitting on a bench.
A member of the charity Utopia 56, which works with migrants, said several people suffered from “severe hypothermia” after falling into the sea.
As British and French authorities crack down on people-smuggling gangs, activists say traffickers are now herding larger groups of migrants into increasingly overcrowded and unsafe boats.
A group of people believed to be migrants are being taken to Dover, Kent, today on board a Border Force ship after a minor boat incident in the Channel
Celestin Pichaud of Utopia 56 said the situation was “more than dramatic”.
“For months now, someone has been dying every five days trying to cross the Channel,” he said.
“Rescue services on land and at sea are completely overwhelmed.”
Since 2018, more and more migrants and asylum seekers have been crossing the Channel, despite repeated warnings about the perilous journey.
Drownings and fatal crushes on overcrowded boats since January have made 2024 the deadliest year since 2018 for migrants trying to reach Britain by sea.