The deaths of four people whose boat got into difficulty crossing the Channel in freezing conditions in the early hours of Wednesday morning add to a toll that includes babies and multiple members of whole families.
While the full scale of deaths among those using makeshift rafts – or in some cases, trying to swim to the UK – is not known, a report in 2020 found that almost 300 people had died trying to cross the Channel in the 20 years up to that point.
