One person has died after a boat carrying dozens of refugees ran into difficulties while attempting to cross the Channel, French authorities have said.
At least 66 people were onboard the craft when it was spotted about 5 miles (8km) off the coast of Grand-Fort-Philippe at about 12.30am local time on Friday, said Premar Manche, a French agency that monitors the Channel.
Rescue ships reached the boat about 30 minutes later and one person onboard was pronounced dead. Another person was taken to hospital in Calais by helicopter in a critical condition, the agency said.
It added that sea and air searches of the area continued.
The Cross Gris-Nez, a coordination centre for rescue operations in Pas-de-Calais, had received a message that a migrant boat was in difficulty around midnight, Premar Manche said.
The centre dispatched the Esvagt Charlie, a state-chartered rescue boat, which took about 30 minutes to reach the wreck site, the agency said.
As the rescue boat approached, at about 1am, the crew informed the onshore teams that one of the boat’s tubes was deflated and that people were in the water. A semi-rigid boat was launched immediately to rescue the people.
The Cross Gris-Nez centre also dispatched four other boats: the Dauphin of the French navy, based in Le Touquet, the Apollo Moon, a state-chartered rescue ship, the semi-rigid SNS 077 Notre Dame de Risban out of Calais and the semi-rigid SNS 276 Notre Dame des Flandres out of Gravelines.
The first of the people in the water were rescued by the Esvagt Charlie at about 1.15am and by 2.15am it had rescued 59 people, including two who were unconscious. At the same time, the SNS 276 rescued seven people.
One of the unconscious people was declared dead at the scene and the other was taken by helicopter to Calais hospital in a life-threatening condition. All the rescued castaways would be taken care of at the port of Calais, Premar Manche said.
More than 29,000 people have reached England this year in small boats crossing the notoriously dangerous Channel – about a third down on last year.
Rishi Sunak has made “stopping the boats” one of his five key priorities as prime minister. To achieve this aim, he is battling on with a plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda, despite a supreme court ruling that the policy is unlawful.
A No 10 spokesperson told reporters: “The prime minister’s thoughts are obviously with all those who are affected. There is an ongoing French-led investigation, as you would have seen. It serves as a stark reminder of how dangerous these crossings are and just how crucial it is that we work together to stop the boats and clamp down on the organised criminal gangs that are fuelling it.”
Responding to the tragedy, the home secretary, James Cleverly, said the government needed to take further action.
In a post on X, he wrote: “The incident in the Channel last night is a horrific reminder of the people smugglers’ brutality. 25,000 people have been averted from crossing this year – but we must and will do more.
“My thanks to all those involved in the rescue. Every boat stopped is a potential life saved.”
The Labour chair, Anneliese Dodds, called for more to be done to tackle the gangs responsible for facilitating the boat crossings.
Asked for her reaction to the confirmation that a migrant had died attempting to cross the Channel on Friday, Dodds told Sky News: “One can barely imagine what it must have been like in the middle of the night with freezing cold water and the terror and fear for people on that vessel.
“And I think yet again this underlines really that the criminal people-smuggling gangs are putting individuals in absolutely appalling danger.
“They are profiting from this really disgracefully, and there needs to be far more done to break up those criminal people-smuggling gangs.”
Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “These appalling deaths are becoming too common and there is an urgent need to put in place safe routes so people don’t have to take dangerous journeys across the world’s busiest shipping lane.
“Instead the government is pushing ahead with its unworkable and unprincipled Rwanda plan as well as shutting down existing safe ways to get to the UK.
“People flee persecution and violence out of desperation, to find safety and protect their families. The government must take action now and respond in a compassionate way to prevent future tragedies and protect human life.”
