Two-year-old boy among four dead in small boat 'tragedies' in English Channel
A two-year-old boy was "crushed" after a boat in the Channel got into difficulty, as ITV News' Correspondent Neil Connery reports
A two-year-old boy, a woman and two men have been killed in two small boat incidents in the English Channel, French authorities have confirmed.
In the first incident on Saturday, the French coastguard responded to a boat carrying nearly 90 people on board which was suffering engine failure, the Prefect of Pas-de-Calais Jacques Billant said.
A total of 15 people were recovered from onboard to a tow vessel called l’Abeille, including the two-year-old boy, who was unconscious. Despite a medical team being scrambled by helicopter, he was declared dead.
The French interior minister Bruno Retailleau posted on X that the boy had been “trampled to death”.
Billant said that the other 14 migrants, including a 17-year-old who suffered burns to his legs, were taken to the port of Boulogne to receive care before being questioned by police.
The rest of the occupants were allowed to continue their journey to the UK, he added.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she had been in touch with the French interior minister.
She posted on X on Saturday afternoon: “It is appalling that more lives have been lost in the Channel today, including a young child, as criminal smuggler gangs continue to organise these dangerous boat crossings.
“The gangs do not care if people live or die – this is a terrible trade in lives.”
In the second incident, a boat with 83 people on board which had sailed from the Calais area, suffered several engine failures which caused panic on board leading to some of the occupants falling into the sea who were all rescued.
Mr Billant said that when 71 migrants were transferred from the inflatable boat to the Flamant – a French navy patrol boat, three people were found unconscious at the bottom of the boat.
He said that they were “probably crushed and suffocated during the jostling and drowned in the 40 centimetres of water present in the boat”.
He added: “Despite the intervention of the doctors, they were declared dead. They are two men and a woman, all three around 30 years old.”
Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.
Mr Billant said the remaining 12 occupants attempted to continue their journey across the Channel, but were eventually rescued again and taken back to France.
Mr Billant said: “Two new tragedies occurred at sea this morning.
“The toll is very heavy, since we deeply regret the death of four people: two men, a woman and a child.”
He added that the migrants rescued on Saturday were from Eritrea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iran, Ethiopia, Libya, Syria, Egypt, Kuwait and Iraq.
The fatal incidents come 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.
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...