During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday and Wednesday morning, thanks to a weather window favorable to these dangerous crossings, many migrant canoes took to the sea.
Early in the morning, a boat was reported in difficulty in the Hardelot sector, reported the Channel and North Sea maritime prefecture (Premar). In all, 61 people were treated, according to fire commander Baptiste Gournay, reporting one person in “absolute emergency” and five in “relative emergency”, evacuated to the Boulogne-sur-Mer hospital. , in addition to a deceased man, aged 28 according to him. The Boulogne-sur-Mer public prosecutor's office indicated that he “could be Kuwaiti”.
One death every five days
“The figure that has stood out to us for several months is one person who dies every five days” in these crossing attempts, reacted one of the coordinators of Utopia 56 on the coast, Célestin Pichaud. “The situation is more than dramatic. Rescue at sea and on land is overwhelmed by events.” He denounces the “disastrous desire to continue on the path of repression”. On Sunday morning, another migrant died after an attempt to leave from Tardinghen beach.
Drownings and fatal stampedes on overloaded canoes made 2024 the deadliest year since the beginning of the phenomenon of Channel crossings on frail boats in 2018.
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