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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Politics
Ben Mitchell

French coastguard rescues 94 people from water after small boat breaks apart

At a glance

  • French coastguard rescued 94 people after their small boat collapsed four nautical miles off Dunkirk while attempting to cross the Channel on Thursday morning.
  • A joint rescue operation involving French naval vessels, the coastguard, a UK aircraft, and a French Navy helicopter saved all those thrown into the water, with three suffering from hypothermia.
  • The incident followed a two-week lull in Channel crossings, with 36,954 people having made the journey to the UK so far this year — up 17% on the same period in 2024.

The French coastguard has rescued 94 people after their small boat collapsed as they attempted to cross the Channel from Dunkirk.

The French maritime prefecture said it had dispatched a number of coastguard and naval boats on Thursday morning after receiving reports of multiple boats carrying migrants setting off.

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