Six dead and more than 50 rescued after boat carrying migrants sinks in Channel

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has chaired a meeting with Border Force officials following the sinking of a migrant boat

Six people have died and over 50 rescued after a boat carrying migrants sank in the Channel, French authorities have said.

Two people may still be missing at sea after a vessel got into difficulty off the coast of Sangatte.

At least 22 people were dropped off at Dover by UK crews while 36 were taken to the port of Calais on a French boat, France’s Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said.

A large-scale search and rescue operation involving two French aircraft, numerous boats and merchant vessels, the UK Coastguard and a British chartered ship continues.

Early on Saturday morning, information was received from a patrol boat that a migrant boat was sinking off Sangatte.

Six people were recovered in a serious condition with one, who was evacuated by helicopter to hospital in Calais, later pronounced dead.

An updated statement said the other five, who were taken in by boat, also died.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman chaired a meeting with Border Force officials later on Saturday morning, describing the incident as a “tragic loss of life”.

She is being updated on latest developments in the operation.

A UK Government spokesperson said in a statement: "These deaths are devastating and our thoughts are with the victims’ families and friends at this time.

"This incident is sadly another reminder of the extreme dangers of crossing the Channel in small boats and how vital it is that we break the people smugglers’ business model and stop the boats."

A Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesperson added: "HM Coastguard is currently assisting the French authorities, Gris Nez, in a search and rescue response to an incident involving a small boat in the Channel.

"Dover RNLI lifeboat has seen sent as part of that assistance with Folkestone and Langdon Bay coastguard rescue teams. South East Coast Ambulance has also been sent.

"HM Coastguard will continue to work with search and rescue partners to respond to those in distress around the seas and coastal areas of the UK."

An investigation has also been opened by the Boulogne prosecutor’s office.

It comes after 755 people crossed the English Channel in small boats on Thursday, the highest daily number so far this year, confirming the total since 2018 has passed 100,000.

Since current records began on January 1 2018, 100,715 migrants have arrived in the UK after making the journey, according to analysis of Government data.

Thursday’s figures were recorded as another major search and rescue operation was launched after 17 migrants went overboard and were pulled from the water.

The Home Office said they were all taken ashore for medical checks.

Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said the latest incident was an "appalling, deeply shocking tragedy".

"We must stop these crossings and defeat the criminal people smugglers.

"There can be no more headline-chasing gimmicks or madcap schemes that just make everything worse," he wrote on Twitter.

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the incident "underscores the need for meaningful action" to reduce dangerous crossings, and urged the Government to focus on creating an "orderly and humane asylum system".

"We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life in today’s sinking of a boat in the English Channel. Our hearts go out to the victims, survivors, and their loved ones. We also thank the rescuers who helped save many lives under harrowing circumstances," he said.

He accused the Government of "focusing on passing expensive and unworkable legislation and shutting down existing safe ways to get to the UK", adding: "There are constructive alternatives we have set out that would create an orderly and humane asylum system."

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