Pregnant woman and six children among 12 dead in Channel disaster

Scores of migrants took to English Channel on Wednesday, hours after small dinghy ripped open

Migrants try to cross the English Channel as French police try to stop them in waters off Wimereux, France, on Wednesday. Reuters

About 200 migrants set off from French shores on Wednesday, hours after a pregnant woman and six children were among 12 migrants who died after their dinghy “ripped” open while crossing the English Channel.

Local prosecutors in France said 10 females and two males died in the incident on Tuesday.

They were among more than 60 people who had been crammed on to a dinghy less than seven metres long.

Calais charity worker Angele Vettorello, co-ordinator at Utopia 56, said she saw 200 people trying to cross on Wednesday who had been stopped by police.

“The crossings, it's not going to stop,” she said.

“We see it every month … every death at the border, the people don't stop crossing.”

Migrants dead after boat 'ripped open' in English Channel – in pictures

She said a lot of police were at the shore, with interventions made during the night and into the morning.

Ms Vettorello added this summer there has been a “huge increase” in people dying in the Channel, and the last week was “really busy” for crossings.

“We know a lot of people who were stopped to cross and were back to shore during those seven days.

“We received calls from people in distress in boats in the Channel, we received for example eight calls from eight different boats on Friday.”

Around 317 migrants arrived in the UK on Tuesday after crossing the Channel, according to provisional figures from the Home Office.

'Ripped apart'

Olivier Barbarin, the mayor of Le Portel near Boulogne-sur-Mer, said the bottom of the boat “ripped” apart in the incident off the coast of France on Tuesday. All on board were thrown into the water.

Many of them were not wearing life jackets and several needed medical care, according to the French coastguard, which rescued more than 50 people.

“I came to Boulogne-sur-Mer to meet and thank the emergency services, the police and the sailors who were able to save 51 people from drowning by intervening very quickly and very courageously,” French Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said on X.

Mr Darmanin described it as a “terrible shipwreck”, adding: “The provisional toll stands at 12 dead, two missing and several injured.

“All government services are mobilised to find the missing and take care of the victims.”

At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Keir Starmer told MPs that government “must have a renewed determination to end this”.

“Yesterday’s incident in the Channel was shocking and deeply tragic, and our thoughts are with all those who’ve lost their lives and their families,” he said.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper branded the incident “horrifying and deeply tragic” as she said “vital” efforts to dismantle “dangerous and criminal smuggler gangs” and to boost border security “must proceed apace”.

Mr Darmanin said most of the people on the boat were believed to have been from Eritrea.

Speaking to reporters at Boulogne-sur-Mer, where the casualties are being treated, he said as many as 75 people can be put on boats ahead of a crossing attempt.

“These boats go down very, very quickly, this is the reason why a lot of people get killed on these journeys,” he said, according to a BBC News translation.

Ms Cooper said she was in touch with Mr Darmanin and was being kept updated on the situation, adding: “Our hearts go out to the loved ones of all those who have lost their lives, and all those who have been seriously injured.”

Small boats were seen crossing the Channel on Wednesday, shadowed by the French coastguard.

The latest casualties mean more than 30 people have died in Channel crossings so far this year.

Before Tuesday, the French coastguard had recorded at least 19 Channel crossing deaths in 2024, including nine since the start of July. Last year, 12 migrants were thought to have died or were recorded as missing.

The International Organisation for Migration, which records Channel crossing deaths as part of its Missing Migrant Project, estimates 226 people, including 35 children, are missing or have died after attempting the crossing as of January.

Ministers have raised fears about people smugglers cramming more and more migrants on to increasingly poor boats.

Last month, in its annual assessment of crime threats to Britain, the National Crime Agency said the dangerous journeys were a “persistent and high-volume threat” and the number of people attempting the crossing – coupled with people-smuggler tactics which see migrants “wading out to boats or transferring from taxi boats” – had “increased the likelihood of fatalities”.

Charities and campaigners reiterated calls for urgent changes to curb Channel crossings as they lamented the latest loss of life at sea.

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the number of deaths in the Channel this year had been “shockingly high” and the “devastating trend shows the urgent need for a comprehensive and multipronged approach to reduce dangerous crossings”.

“Enforcement alone is not the solution,” he added, as he called on the government to open up more safe and legal routes for asylum seekers.

Anna Kettley, deputy executive director of the UK Committee for Unicef, said: “We are deeply saddened to learn that children were among those that lost their lives in the Channel today.

“Every child, no matter where they are from, deserves safety, protection and a chance for a better future.

“We urge the UK government to put the protection of children at the heart of their policies and to ensure there are safe and legal routes to enter the UK.”

The incident comes as more migrants arrived in the UK after making the journey, and the number of Channel crossings reached the highest seven-day total for the year so far.

Pictures showed men, women and children being brought ashore in Dover, Kent, by lifeboats and Border Force on Tuesday.

Home Office figures show 351 people made the journey in six boats on Monday, taking the provisional total for 2024 to date 21,403.

This is 2 per cent higher than this time last year (20,973) and 16 per cent lower than at the same point in 2022 (25,387), according to government data.

The figures also mean 2,109 migrants arrived between August 27 and September 2 – the highest number recorded for any seven-day period so far this year.

The previous highest number of arrivals in a seven-day period was 1,758, from August 26 to September 1, PA analysis shows.