A lifeless body was discovered on Sunday on a beach in Marck, near Calais, and an investigation was opened to “search for the causes of death”declared Thursday, November 21, the Boulogne-sur-Mer public prosecutor’s office to Agence France-Presse (AFP). This body turns out “very altered” and no immediate identification was possible, according to the prosecution. The investigation, entrusted to the Calais police station, will try to establish whether it was a migrant and whether this person “may be linked to a shipwreck”.
At least seventy candidates for exile have died trying to cross the Channel to reach England since the start of the year, according to the Pas-de-Calais prefecture. This figure makes 2024 the costliest year in human lives since the appearance in 2018 of the phenomenon of Channel crossings on small boats.
“Interrogation” of the prosecution
The discovery of this body in Marck brings to fourteen the number of bodies discovered at sea or on the coasts of northern France since October 30, according to an AFP count based on official sources. Another body was found on Wednesday on a beach in the Somme, also in a very deteriorated state.
On October 23, at least three migrants died in a shipwreck, for which the authorities cited possible missing victims. The prosecution reported a few days later of a « interrogation » persistent due to a discrepancy between the number of people recovered and some testimonies on the number of passengers on board.
Migrant aid associations have identified around ten people missing after this shipwreck.
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