A woman and a child have died off the northern coast of France while trying to cross the English Channel to reach Britain, French authorities confirmed on Wednesday.
The pair were among around 85 people crammed into an overloaded small boat that ran into difficulty in the Channel. The French navy was alerted after ten of the passengers requested assistance, according to the Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea. Despite the intervention, the vessel continued on its way towards the UK after the tragic deaths.
These latest fatalities bring the number of migrant deaths in Channel crossings to five in just 10 days, based on figures compiled by AFP. Since the start of 2025, at least 15 people have died attempting the dangerous journey, adding to the grim tally of lives lost at sea.
In 2024 alone, 78 migrants perished while making similar attempts — the highest number recorded since the sharp rise in Channel crossings began in 2018.
The perilous route continues to see rising numbers. More than 36,800 people successfully made it to Britain via small boats between January and December 2024, a 25 percent increase on the previous year.
The incident shows ongoing concerns about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Channel and the continued reliance on unsafe boats by desperate migrants seeking asylum in the UK.
