France rescues 84 migrants trying to cross English Channel

World

Published: 2021-04-10 17:22

Last Updated: 2024-03-28 15:25


Source: France24
Source: France24

The maritime authorities of the English Channel and the North Sea announced in a statement the rescue of four boats carrying 84 migrants who were trying to cross to the British coast on Saturday off the coast in northern France.

A French navy patrol boat first rescued 11 migrants off the coast of Touquet overnight and brought them to the town of Boulogne-sur-Mer. Then the intervention, aid and rescue boat rescued 24 survivors, including five children.

A motorboat belonging to the French Navy Gendarmerie recovered 30 immigrants, including a woman and a child, off the coast of Sanghat, while a boat from the National Society for Maritime Rescue recovered 19 migrants, including two women and two children, off the coast of Ampleus.

Since 2018, the number of migrants trying to cross the English Channel has increased despite the risks of exposure to hypothermia and drowning accidents in a rough seas with active movement of cargo ships.

In 2020, the authorities recorded a four-fold increase in the number of flights and attempts to cross the English Channel from France compared to 2019.

Six people were killed and three others were missing while crossing the English Channel last year, compared to four deaths in 2019.