Toddler ‘trampled to death’ as migrants try to cross English Channel

Inflatable dinghies and outboard engines stored in a Port Authority yard in Dover in southeast England are believed to have been used by migrants who were picked up at sea while crossing the English Channel from France [Ben Stansall/AFP]

A two-year-old has been crushed to death and three other people have been killed in two attempts to cross the English Channel using overcrowded boats, French authorities say.

“A child was trampled to death,” French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on X on Saturday. “… The smugglers have the blood of these people on their hands, and our government will intensify the fight against these gangs who enrich themselves by organising these deadly crossings.”