The forty passengers were taken care of by the French authorities and were brought back to the dock in Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Around forty migrants were rescued off the coast of Pas-de-Calais this Saturday, November 2, indicates the maritime prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea in a press release. A boat with migrants was reported off Sangatte to the CROSS Gris-Nez in the morning by a police plane.
The regional operational surveillance and rescue center then deployed resources to search for the boat. Once located, the latter was monitored, but the people on board did not initially require assistance.
Passengers brought back to the platform
However, shortly after arriving on site, the gendarmerie patrolman reported that the migrant boat had “stopped”, and that “some passengers were requesting assistance”.
The patrol boat then took care of the 39 people who requested help, while the other passengers remaining on board refused help from the French authorities. They were eventually recovered by British authorities.
For their part, the 39 people taken care of were brought back to the dock in Boulogne-sur-Mer.
The Channel and North Sea maritime prefecture is once again warning of the risks of attempting to cross the Channel. “This maritime sector is one of the busiest areas in the world, with more than 600 commercial ships passing through it per day and the weather conditions are often difficult,” she recalls.
On Wednesday, three people died after a boat sank off the coast of Sangatte, bringing to more than fifty the number of deaths in attempts to cross the Channel since the start of the year.
