The day of Saturday October 5 was once again very eventful in the Strait of Pas de Calais. Many boats attempted the crossing. But four people died, including a child, in two separate events.
Four migrants trying to reach the United Kingdom died on Saturday October 5. Several boats set out in the morning to try to cross the Strait of Pas de Calais, according to the maritime prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea, and 237 people were rescued during this day alone.
A first boat was monitored by the intervention, assistance and rescue tug (RIAS) Abeille Normandie chartered by the French Navy. Among its occupants, fifteen were recovered, including an unresponsive child who was declared dead by a doctor on board. The public service patrol boat (PSP) Flamant recovered 71 migrants who had boarded a boat spotted by the Calais maritime and port security platoon (PSMP). Among them, three were inanimate and were declared dead by the SAMU. Twelve other people remaining on board the boat initially refused to be rescued before being picked up by the Minck.
Several other operations were undertaken during this eventful day. Sixteen other people were rescued off the coast of Calais by the Minck, 54 off the coast of Dunkerque by the Ridens and 60 off the coast of Dunkerque by the Jean Bart II. Finally, 26 people who were shipwrecked were recovered in the afternoon by rescuers from the British RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution).
On the French side, no fewer than nine vessels had to be engaged during the day: the public service patrol vessel (PSP) Flamant; the Garonne metropolitan support and assistance building (BSAM); the intervention, assistance and rescue tug (RIAS) Abeille Normandie; vessels chartered by the State from SeaOwl Minck and Ridens; the maritime affairs patrol vessel (PAM) Thémis; the coastal maritime surveillance boat (VCSM) of the Maritime Gendarmerie Aber Ildut as well as three assets of the SNSM, the Jean Bart II (Dunkirk), Notre-Dame des Flandres (Gravelines) and Jacques Lebrun (Boulogne-sur-Mer). The CODIS 62, the Dauphin helicopter of the French Navy based in Le Touquet and the P-68 “Action Air Environnement” plane were also mobilized.
Despite the additional resources deployed since the tragedy of November 24, 2021 (27 deaths), the deaths of migrants trying to reach the United Kingdom by sea are increasing this year. French authorities rescued around 4,000 people in the strait area. At the end of September, there were already more than 41 deaths at sea and two missing. Already, the year 2024 exceeds the sad record of 2021 when there were 31 deaths and 4 missing. In 2023, there were 12 deaths and 4 missing, 5 deaths in 2022, 7 in 2020 and 4 in 2019, again according to figures from the maritime prefecture.
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