Five die trying to cross Channel to UK in freezing cold
Five die trying to cross Channel to UK in freezing cold
CALAIS: Five migrants died and a sixth was in critical condition on Sunday after trying to reach Britain from northern France in freezing temperatures, the French maritime authority said.
More than 30 people were rescued, the maritime prefecture said in a statement. The fatalities were the first reported migrant deaths on the Channel in 2024. Authorities said four migrants died overnight, while a fifth body was found later on the beach.
The group was attempting to reach a vessel off the resort town of Wimereux when their small boat got into difficulty around two am, the maritime prefecture said.
The crew of a French tow vessel, the Abeille Normandie, went to the rescue and spotted “unconscious and lifeless people” in the water, an official said, estimating the water temperature at nine degrees Celsius. Along the Wimereux embankment a journalist saw items of clothing and shoes abandoned by the migrants. The survivors were taken to a shelter in Calais.
According to the maritime prefecture more than 30 were rescued, but one person, had said around 70 migrants were brought in at around three am, including “entire families with children, some of them very young”.
“Some of the survivors did not stay and told us they wanted to go to the Dunkirk train station to reach an accommodation centre in Armentieres,” the source added. Authorities launched an investigation into “aggravated manslaughter” and other crimes, the Boulogne-sur-Mer public prosecutor’s office said.
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