Four people, including a one-year-old girl, on board a drifting pleasure boat were rescued Monday afternoon “off the coast of Barfleur” in the English Channel, the Maritime Prefecture of the Channel, confirming information from France Bleu Cotentin. It was then located “25 miles (40 km) approximately from the French coasts”, according to the Cherbourg public prosecutor's office contacted by Le Parisien.
These four passengers had probably been “adrift for several days”, assures the maritime prefecture, according to which an “evacuation by helicopter” was “necessary”. “It will be necessary in particular to establish their identity, their origins and nationality but also to clarify the exact circumstances of their crossing,” affirms the prosecution which has not yet been able to hear the interested parties. Their departure location and expected arrival location remain unknown.
According to the maritime prefecture, the alert was given to the regional operational surveillance and rescue center (Cross) in Jobourg (Channel) by a “commercial ship”. A helicopter, “then on a training flight in the area”, was diverted to “rescue the four people in difficulty” when a ship was also sent to the area. A first medical assessment was carried out on site.
According to France Bleu Cotentin, the vital prognosis of an adult and that of the little girl were in jeopardy at the time of the emergency intervention. “They would currently be out of danger,” cautiously says the Cherbourg public prosecutor’s office, which has opened an investigation. The precise length of time their rigid boat had been adrift remains unknown at this time.
Since the start of the year, the number of attempts to cross the Channel has increased. More than 50 people were rescued off the coast of Pas-de-Calais this Sunday. They were trying to reach the United Kingdom from the English Channel.
