New migratory tragedies in an already record year for deaths in the Channel: several migrants, including a young child, died on Saturday October 5, 2024, while trying to reach England on small boats. “This night, several migrants lost their lives again during a sea crossing of the Channel,” announced the Pas-de-Calais prefecture.
The Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, spoke on
The number of crossings up 4%
Saturday morning, between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., an “overloaded” migrant boat requested assistance from the tug ship Abeille Normandie, according to the maritime prefecture (Premar) of the Channel and the North Sea. Fourteen people who were on board this boat were picked up by the ship, including a “minor” person who died and an injured person, who is still unknown if she is a minor, according to the first report communicated by Premar. This injured person was airlifted to Boulogne hospital.
Premar specifies that it is not a shipwreck, the deceased child having been found in the boat, not in the water. After the recovery of the 14 people, the other passengers of the boat continued their journey towards England, according to the same source.
Since January, more than 25,000 migrants have arrived on British shores after crossing the Channel aboard makeshift boats. A figure up 4%, according to figures from the British Interior Ministry, published on September 23.
