Teenager among four dead in migrant boat tragedy, ITV News understands

A teenager has died after a migrant boat capsized in the English Channel on Wednesday, ITV Meridian understands.

Kent County Council has confirmed, Leader Roger Gough, told councillors that twelve lone migrant children were among the 39 people rescued from the icy waters in the early hours, during an official meeting.

The tragedy, he reportedly said, was a "sobering reminder of the human costs of what is an ongoing crisis".

The Home Office has yet to confirm the information.

The latest Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) statement has revealed that the search for missing people is over.

It said: "The extensive search coordinated by HM Coastguard for people missing from a small boat in the English Channel was concluded at 3.30 pm today. A total of 43 people were recovered from the water, sadly including four fatalities.

"Our thoughts continue to be with those affected by this tragic incident and with the families of those who have lost their lives. We would like to thank everyone involved in the search and rescue operation."

Drones were used to search the Channel overnight and ships were asked to post lookouts as the search continued on Thursday.

The major operation, involving the Royal Navy, French Navy, Coastguard, Border Force and RNLI lifeboats, as well as Kent Police, began at 02:16 on Wednesday (14 December).

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is carrying out a "preliminary assessment" of the incident and will decide whether an investigation will be launched once evidence has been reviewed.

A spokeswoman said: "We are in the process of gathering information about the incident as part of the process of conducting a preliminary assessment. A decision on whether an investigation will be launched will be made once the evidence has been reviewed."

Government sources initially told the PA news agency 43 people were rescued, but the figure has since been revised to 39 after updated information from authorities involved.

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust said two casualties were taken to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.

It is understood one person was discharged on Wednesday but the other had died by the time they had arrived at the hospital.

North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale later told MPs some of the survivors were still in hospital "fighting for their lives", including women and children.

A spokesman for a French charity said it was sent a voice message in the early hours of Wednesday from migrants in a waterlogged boat begging for help, and that babies could be heard screaming in the background.

Nikolai Posner, communications officer for Utopia 56 which helps migrants in Calais, said the charity received a voicenote at around 2am UK time in which a man said there was water inside the boat and "families and kids" on board.

He told PA: "It was clearly an emergency, he was calling for help ... In the background of the message we can hear babies screaming".

Mr Posner said the charity tried to respond to the message but the reply was not received, then they contacted both the French and UK coastguards.

It is unclear why a rescue boat was only launched an hour after the charity informed authorities of the distress message, Mr Posner said, adding: "We don't know what really happened during that time".

Lucy Halliday, operations coordinator, Care for Calais, is calling for the government, which she said "has blood on its hands", to create safe and legal passages for migrants.

She said no Ukrainian has had to cross the channel, whereas Syrian, Iranian, Sudanese people are having to risk their lives in small boats.

Ms Halliday told ITV News: "There are lots more deaths than are reported in the camps as well as in the water...it will be forgotten about until the next big disaster happens and the government will promise to do something and they won't do it again and more and more people will be at risk".

• WATCH: Lucy Halliday, Care for Calais, talk about what life is like for migrants in Calais

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expressed his "sorrow" at the "capsizing of a small boat" in the Channel, telling MPs there had been a "tragic loss of human life".

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the incident was a reminder that criminal gangs running the crossing routes put "the lives of the desperate at risk and profit from their misery", while shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper warned the action against the gangs has been "too weak".

There are likely to have been freezing temperatures in the Channel at the time of the tragedy amid a cold snap sweeping across the UK.

It came a day after Mr Sunak unveiled a raft of new measures which he said were aimed at curbing Channel crossings.

More than 44,000 people have made the dangerous crossing this year, Government figures show.

At least 27 migrants died when a dinghy sank while heading to the UK from France in November last year.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: "These are the days that we dread.

"Crossing the Channel in unseaworthy vessels is a lethally dangerous endeavour.

"It is for this reason, above all, that we are working so hard to destroy the business model of the people smugglers, evil, organised criminals who treat human beings as cargo."

Campaigners have blamed the Government's "hostile" asylum policies for the deaths which they said were "predictable and avoidable", while Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said the incident showed "debates about asylum seekers are not about statistics, but precious human lives".