Young child 'trampled to death' in small boat incident off France

Incident came hours after 'several migrants' died trying to make the dangerous crossing

French maritime police were called to assist after a request for help from passengers on board a migrant boat in the English Channel. AFP

A young child was "trampled to death" after a small boat crossing in the English Channel went wrong on Saturday morning, hours after several migrants died while attempting the dangerous journey.

Several people, including a young child, died on Friday night, French authorities said. “Migrants have again lost their lives trying to reach Britain by sea across the English Channel,” they added. The authorities were called out again on Saturday following a call for assistance from a boat carrying 14 people, according to maritime police.

"A child was trampled to death," France's interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, said on X of the Saturday incident, adding that several other people had died in the "appalling drama". "The smugglers have the blood of these people on their hands and our government will intensify the fight against these gangs who enrich themselves by organising these deadly crossings," Mr Retailleau added.

The officials said the accident was not a shipwreck and the deceased child's body was found in the boat, not the water. Olivier Barbarin, the mayor of the coastal town of Le Portel in northern France, said the victim was about four years old. The Boulogne-sur-Mer public prosecutor's office confirmed the dead child had been "very young" but did not immediately release other details.

Mr Barbarin said the 14 passengers rescued had disembarked at the town's commercial port. An injured person was flown to a hospital in Boulogne, northern France. French authorities seek to stop people taking to the water but do not intervene once they are afloat except in a rescue. The operation took place between 8am and 9am on Saturday.

Unconfirmed reports said that four people had died in the two incidents. Local newspaper, La Voix Du Nord, reported that three people had died off Calais and one near Boulogne.

The latest death means at least 47 would-be asylum seekers have lost their lives attempting to reach England from France so far this year. The French and British governments have sought for years to stop the flow of undocumented migrants, who may pay smugglers thousands of euros each for the passage to England from France aboard small boats.

France's new right-wing prime minister, Michel Barnier, said on Tuesday the country needed a stricter immigration policy. He vowed to be “ruthless” with people traffickers who, he said, “exploit misery and despair” and encourage undocumented asylum seekers to cross the Channel and the Mediterranean.

Dr Wanda Wyporska, chief executive of Safe Passage International, said it was "appalling that a child has been reportedly trampled to death" and yet more people have lost their lives crossing the Channel. "Far too many people have died this year at the hands of smugglers who are exploiting the UK's lack of safe routes for refugees. Refugees cannot apply for asylum in the UK without being in the country," she said.

"Without safe routes for refugees to get here, we will only see more children, women and men dying in desperate attempts to reach somewhere safe to start to rebuild their lives with family. The government must urgently provide safe pathways for them to do that."

The latest incident came a day after the world’s seven wealthiest nations agreed to set up special police units to tackle the trafficking of migrants. The units will include officers from the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and Border Force.

Eight migrants died last month when their overcrowded vessel capsized while trying to cross the Channel. In early September. at least 12 people including six minors, mostly from Eritrea, died off the northern French coast when their loaded boat capsized.

The fatal incident comes after the Home Office confirmed that 395 migrants arrived in the UK crossed the English Channel on Friday in the first arrivals in five days. The latest arrivals, who had travelled in seven boats, bring the total for the year to 25,639. This compares to 25,330 by the same date last year and 33,611 in 2022. Some of those arriving on Friday were pictured wearing life jackets as they were brought to shore at Dover on a Border Force vessel.