Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: Dan Kitwood / GETTY IMAGES EUROPE / Getty Images via AFP
09:02, October 18, 2024
During an operation to recover migrants who had fallen into the water, “65 people were recovered safe and sound” but, “after research, an infant was found unconscious in the water and unfortunately declared deceased”, specifies the prefecture maritime. At least 52 people have died in crossing attempts in 2024.
An infant died Thursday evening off the coast of Wissant (Pas-de-Calais) in the sinking of a boat overloaded with people trying to reach England clandestinely, the Channel and North Sea maritime prefecture said in a statement. AFP on Friday. During an operation to recover migrants who had fallen into the water, “65 people were recovered safe and sound” but, “after research, an infant was found unconscious in the water and unfortunately declared deceased”, specifies the prefecture maritime.
This death brings to at least 52 the number of people who died in crossing attempts in 2024, a record since the start in 2018 of the phenomenon of small boats, these makeshift boats used by migrants to try to reach England.
Particularly dangerous crossing conditions
These victims regularly include children. On September 3, half of the twelve victims of the worst shipwreck of the year, which left 12 dead, were minors. On October 5, a two-year-old child was crushed to death in a boat carrying nearly 90 people and its engine broke down.
The conditions for crossing the Channel, “one of the busiest areas in the world” according to the maritime prefecture, are particularly dangerous, on overloaded boats, on board which few passengers have life jackets. Boats arriving on British coasts since January 1 have an average of 53 passengers each, compared to only 13 in 2020, according to official figures from the British authorities. Still according to these, since the start of the year, more than 26,000 migrants have arrived in England after crossing the Channel.
