the body of a man discovered on a beach

A dead man, “African type”was discovered on Saturday, November 2 in the morning on Sangatte beach (Pas-de-Calais) and an investigation was opened, the Boulogne-sur-Mer public prosecutor's office reported to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The body was discovered on Descenderie beach where around twenty police officers and firefighters were present, noted an AFP correspondent. It was a walker who discovered the body around 8:45 a.m., the prosecution told the press agency, adding that the identity of the dead man remained unknown at this stage. The investigation was opened to “search for the causes of death”.

This discovery comes after that, on Wednesday, of three bodies of migrants on the beach of Saint-Etienne-au-Mont, near Boulogne-sur-Mer, and the death the same day of a migrant in an attempted crossing.

During the night from Thursday to Friday, then during the day on Friday, 160 migrants who were trying to cross the Channel on small boats were rescued, the maritime prefecture said in a press release.

On October 23, three migrants also died in a shipwreck. The Boulogne-sur-Mer public prosecutor's office reported, at the start of the week, a « interrogation » persistent on this shipwreck, due to a discrepancy between the number of people rescued and certain testimonies on the number of passengers.

A dangerous sector

At least 60 people have died in migrants' attempted sea crossings to England since the start of the year, making 2024 the costliest year in human lives since the phenomenon first appeared in 2018. .

The worst shipwreck of the year dates back to September 3. At least twelve migrants, half of them minors, died when their boat broke up.

The often overcrowded canoes of migrants use one of the busiest sea lanes in the world, where more than 600 commercial ships pass through every day, making it a dangerous sector.

More than 30,000 migrants have arrived illegally since January in the United Kingdom by crossing the Channel on makeshift boats, more than in the whole of last year, according to figures published Thursday by the British Home Office.

Since the start of the year, more than 5,600 people have been rescued and brought back to the French coast, according to the Channel and North Sea maritime prefecture.