Man arrested in Kent in connection with deaths of five people in Channel crossing

A 18-year-old has been arrested in Kent in connection with a boat crossing in the Channel where five people died, including a child.

The man from Sudan was arrested on Wednesday evening at Manston in Kent on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration and entering the UK illegally.

He is now in custody being questioned. Another man, a 19-year-old from Sudan who was initially detained on Tuesday evening, has been released without charge. He will now be dealt with by the immigration authorities. Two other men, a 22-year-old Sudanese national and a 22-year-old from South Sudan arrested on Wednesday continue to be held. The NCA and partners from Kent Police, Immigration Enforcement and Border Force say they are continuing to work with French counterparts who are investigating the circumstances of the incident on a beach near Wimereux, northern France.

A dinghy carrying more than 100 people set off from Wimereux at around 6am on Tuesday but got into difficulty.

Three men, a woman and a girl were killed, according to the French coastguard. Authorities say the process of interviewing those who were on the boat in question and later arrived in the UK is ongoing and will "likely take several days".

Some 49 people were rescued but 58 others refused to leave the boat and continued their journey towards the UK, the coastguard said in a statement, with several other boats later embarking on the crossing.

The latest crossings take the provisional total for the year so far to 6,667 – 20% higher than this time last year (5,546) but slightly lower (down 0.4%) than the figure recorded at this stage in 2022 (6,691).

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