Four migrants drown throughout an try and cross the English Channel | EUROtoday

A second migratory tragedy in ten days: two males and two ladies drowned on Thursday, April 9 within the morning, throughout an tried clandestine crossing of the Channel, “carried away” by the currents within the Equihen-Plage sector, in Pas-de-Calais.

These 4 individuals “tried to board a taxi-boat” and “the currents, which can be dangerous here, carried them away”, lamented the prefect of the division François-Xavier Lauch throughout a press briefing on website.

The 4 individuals who died are adults, mentioned the Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor, Cécile Gressier. The nationalities of the victims weren’t instantly recognized.

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Another individual affected by hypothermia was handled by emergency companies in relative emergency, in line with the prefect. Two youngsters had been additionally “taken to hospital as a precaution,” the prefecture mentioned in a subsequent press launch.

The boat “continued its journey” with “around thirty people” on board, in line with the prosecutor.

His prosecution opened an investigation, entrusted to the maritime gendarmerie and the Office for Combating Illicit Trafficking of Migrants (Oltim).

This drama “confirms, if necessary, the perfectly criminal nature” of the smuggler organizations which, “to enrich themselves (…), organize these passages, exploiting the misery and distress” of migrants wishing to succeed in England, mentioned Cécile Gressier.

Means of rescue “to question”

Responsibility for this new tragedy lies with the smugglers and “it is the heart of our action to dismantle the smuggler networks”, insisted the prefect. “The gendarmes did not intervene to prevent the departure,” he confused.

According to the mayor of Équihen-Plage, Christian Fourcroy, this tragedy passed off round 7 a.m.

An AFP crew on website famous a big deployment of fireplace engines, in addition to automobiles from the gendarmerie, Samu and civil safety.

Around thirty migrants who had been unable to board the inflatable boat had been taken care of on the seaside, given survival blankets to maintain heat. They had been then transferred by bus to a reception heart.

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This is the second tragedy of this sort because the begin of the yr on the Franco-British border: the 1^er April, two different migrants died throughout one in all these dangerous and infrequently chaotic taxi-boat boardings close to Gravelines, within the North.

Angèle Vettorello, coordinator of the migrant support affiliation Utopia 56 in Calais, criticized on Thursday the “sizing” of the ocean rescue system deployed by the State.

“When we see today that most deaths at the border occur in this 300-meter strip at sea, we must question this rescue system. Is it sufficient? Are there enough boats capable of intervening in areas with shallow water? For the moment we do not have the impression that this is the case,” she informed AFP.

Very uncommon interceptions

In 2025, at the very least 29 migrants died at sea within the area, in line with an AFP depend based mostly on official French and British sources.

Nearly 5,000 migrants have reached England aboard these makeshift boats since 1^er January, in line with official figures from the British Home Office.

Illegal immigration from the coast of northern France to England constitutes a recurring level of friction in relations between Paris and London.

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Under stress from the United Kingdom, France modified its intervention doctrine on the finish of the yr to permit taxi boats to be intercepted at sea. But these interceptions are very uncommon in the meanwhile, sure situations should be met in order to not endanger human lives.

London would love its monetary contribution to securing the border by the French authorities to be conditional on the achievement of a better boat interception goal, in line with a number of media.

“Each death in the Channel is a tragedy and a brutal reminder of the dangers posed” by smuggler networks, the British authorities reacted Thursday to the tragedy at Équihen-Plage, additionally promising to “continue to work tirelessly” with France to struggle towards these clandestine crossings.

With AFP