Migrant Channel crossings continue day after capsized boat kills 12
ITV News' Neil Connery reports from Northern France as migrants continue to attempt to cross the Channel.
More migrants have crossed the Channel a day after 12 people died attempting to make the dangerous journey to the UK.
A pregnant woman and six children were among those who lost their lives in what is being described as the deadliest Channel crossings tragedy of the year so far when their boat was “ripped apart” and sank off the northern French coast of Cap Gris-Nez on Tuesday.
Dozens of migrants continued to make the journey on Wednesday, with more people pictured being brought ashore in Dover, Kent, amid calm weather conditions at sea.
At the same time, a Calais charity told how around 200 migrants were spotted trying to embark on the crossing from the French coast earlier that morning – but were stopped by police.
Home Office figures show 317 migrants made the journey in five boats on Tuesday, suggesting an average of around 63 people per boat.
The incident on Tuesday saw more than 60 migrants fall into the waters in what French interior minister Gerald Darmanin described as a "terrible shipwreck in Pas-de-Calais, off Wimereux".
The mayor of Wimereux, the French coastal town near where the inflatable boat was last seen, pleaded for French and British officials to reduce the number of migrants attempting the journey.
“Unfortunately, every day is like this for us. The smugglers - a criminal network - continue with insistence to send people to their deaths in the channel,” mayor Jean-Luc Dubaële said.
“Let's ask ourselves the question: Why do they want to go to Britain? Because something is drawing them there. It is high time that we sit around a table with the new British government."
UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described the incident as "horrifying and deeply tragic".
She said there must be quick "vital" efforts to dismantle "dangerous and criminal smuggler gangs" plus boost border security.
French interior minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on X that dozens of people were crammed in a boat less than seven metres long.
“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,” he said.
Darmanin said most of those on board were believed to have been from Eritrea, and most of the victims were women.
Olivier Barbarin, the mayor of Le Portel near Boulogne-sur-Mer, said: "The bottom of the boat ripped open. It's a big drama."
According to the French coastguard, all on board the dinghy ended up in the water. Many of those on board were not wearing life jackets and needed emergency medical care.
Cooper said she is being updated on the situation by her French counterpart, 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."
Footage migrants seemingly attempting to cross the Channel on Wednesday
This year at least 30 migrants have gone missing or died trying to cross the channel to reach the UK, according to the International Organisation for Migration.
Following Wednesday's arrivals the provisional total number of migrants who have arrived in the UK so far this year after crossing the Channel to 21,720 – 3% higher than this time last year (21,086) but 19% lower than at the same point in 2022 (26,692).
The latest tally means more than 8,000 arrivals have been recorded since Labour won the general election and Sir Keir Starmer walked into Number 10 (8,146).
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Politicians and police have expressed fears over how people smugglers are cramming more and more migrants into small boats, increasing the likelihood of fatalities when they risk the dangerous crossing.
Earlier on Wednesday, reporters on a beach in Wimereux – near the site of Tuesday’s incident – described how a large group of migrants were crammed into a small dinghy, many with their legs dangling over the sides.
The boat, filmed by media for more than an hour as it slowly made its journey out to sea as passers-by walking dogs strolled on the beach, is said to have been approached by a patrol boat flying a French flag with a crew member seen tossing more life jackets to the migrants.
Meanwhile, a larger French patrol boat shadowed the dinghy from a distance.
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