Ten women and girls among 12 dead after migrant boat sinks in canal

At least 12 people have died, including 10 women and girls, after a boat carrying dozens of migrants broke apart in the Channel, a local mayor said.

Olivier Barbarin, mayor of Le Portel, a French coastal town involved in a rescue operation, said “the bottom of the boat was torn open”.

The French coast guard said more than 65 people were rescued on Tuesday morning after a ship got into trouble.

According to local authorities, several people required emergency treatment and a temporary medical post has been set up in the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, about 45 kilometres southwest of Calais.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters that 12 people had been killed, 10 of them women and girls.

He also said that only eight of the 70 people on the boat had life jackets.

A spokesman for the French maritime prefecture said helicopters and boats had been deployed in the search for survivors.

The resources deployed included helicopters and vessels from the French customs and navy, as well as boats from the SNSM, the French equivalent of the RNLI.

Another media outlet, France 3, had initially said: “at least 100 migrants“were on board at 11.30am (10.30am UK time).

Earlier, Mr Darmanin described the incident at X as “horrible”, adding that “all government resources have been mobilised to find the missing and care for the victims”.

Le Portel is said to be the place where the boat was launched.

British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called the deaths “appalling and deeply tragic”.

“What happened off the coast of Le Portel is a horrific and deeply tragic incident. Our thoughts are with the loved ones of all those who lost their lives and all those who were seriously injured.

“The gangs behind this horrific and unscrupulous trade in human lives are cramming more and more people into increasingly unseaworthy rowing boats and sending them out into the Channel even in very bad weather.

“They care about nothing but the profit they make, and that is why – in addition to mourning the terrible loss of life – the work to dismantle these dangerous and criminal smuggling rings and strengthen border security is so critical and must continue apace.”

James Cleverly said the deaths in the Channel were “tragic” and could not continue.

The shadow home secretary wrote on X: “This is tragic and cannot continue. It is not enough to talk about ‘crushing the gangs’ when the real consequences are so serious.”

At least 30 migrants have died or gone missing this year while trying to cross the Channel, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Figures from the Ministry of the Interior show that at least 2,109 migrants have attempted the crossing in small boats in the past seven days.

An RNLI lifeboat docked in Dover on Tuesday carrying suspected migrants after being sent into the English Channel.

It is currently not believed that any people have been rescued from the incident off the coast of France.