Toddler among four killed in Channel after attempted small boat crossing

Posted on by Vaseline

At least four people have died, including a child, while trying to cross the Channel in small boats.

French media report that the child, believed to be under four years old, died off the coast of Boulogne.

The three other migrants were reportedly killed in a separate incident when a small boat ran into trouble in the Calais area.

So far in 2024, 51 people have died, the highest figure since 2019, when 50 deaths occurred. On September 3, 12 died, the biggest loss of life in the Channel so far this year.

Stock image - workers remove small boat

At least four people are believed to have died after the boat capsized (stock)

GETTY

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau On X said in a statement: “Today several people died trying to cross the Channel. A child was trampled in a boat. “A terrible tragedy that should make us all aware of the tragedy that is unfolding.

“The human traffickers have the blood of these people on their hands and our government will intensify the fight against these mafias who are getting rich by organizing these crossings of death.”

It comes after a total of 395 migrants arrived in Britain after crossing the English Channel on Friday, the first arrivals in five days. The latest arrivals, who had traveled in seven boats, bring the total for the year to 25,639. This compared to 25,330 on the same date last year and 33,611 in 2022.

Some of those who arrived on Friday were pictured wearing life jackets as they were taken to Dover on a Border Force vessel.

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Yvette Kuiper

Home Affairs Minister Yvette Cooper

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A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to put an end to dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security. “As we have seen in so many recent devastating tragedies in the Channel, people smuggling gangs don’t care whether the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will do everything we can to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.”

The arrivals came on the same day that Britain and other G7 countries agreed on an anti-smuggling action plan aimed at boosting cooperation in this area following talks in Italy.

The Home Office said this includes joint investigations and intelligence sharing in an effort to tackle criminal smuggling routes.

The action plan also describes “working together” with social media companies to monitor the internet and various platforms to prevent them from being used to facilitate migrant smuggling and human trafficking.

This includes calling on social media companies “to do more to respond to online content advertising migrant smuggling services.”

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