Boy, two, among four killed in two small boat ‘tragedies’ off the coast of France

A two-year-old boy, a woman and two men have died in “two tragedies” off the coast of France, the prefect of the Pas-de-Calais region has confirmed.

Jacques Billant said that in the first incident on Saturday, the French coast guard responded to a boat with almost 90 people on board that had an engine failure.

A total of fifteen people were taken off board a towing vessel called l’Abeille, including the boy who was unconscious and despite a medical team being summoned by helicopter, he was pronounced dead.

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau posted on X that the boy had been “trampled to death”.

Mr Billant said the other 14 migrants, including a 17-year-old who suffered burns to his legs, were taken to the port of Boulogne to be treated before being questioned by police.

The remaining passengers were allowed to continue their journey to Britain, Billant said.

In the second incident, a boat with 83 people on board, which had sailed from the Calais region, suffered several engine failures causing panic on board, causing a number of occupants to fall into the sea and all were rescued.

Mr Billant said that when 71 migrants were transferred from the inflatable boat to the Flamant – a French Navy patrol boat, three people were found unconscious at the bottom of the boat.

He said they were “probably crushed and suffocated in the jostling and drowned in the 40 centimeters of water in the boat.”

He added: “Despite the intervention of doctors, they were declared dead. They are two men and a woman, all three around thirty years old.”

Mr Billant said the remaining 12 passengers attempted to continue their journey across the Channel but were eventually rescued again and returned to France.

Mr Billant said: “There have been two further tragedies at sea this morning.

“The toll is very heavy as we deeply regret the deaths of four people: two men, a woman and a child.”

Mr Billant told a news conference that the two incidents on Saturday followed previous fatal incidents on September 3 and 15 – and brings the total number of deaths so far this year to 51.

He said people smugglers had separated children from their parents to board the overcrowded boats, but did not indicate whether this included the deceased boy.

Mr Billant said: “Through the lure of profit and the disregard for human life, smuggling networks are increasingly endangering people, not just adults, but increasingly families with children and babies, to whom they sell crossings on dangerous seas and in total unsuitable boats.

“This literally leads them to accidents and deaths, as was the case on September 3 and 15 and again this morning.”

He added that the migrants rescued on Saturday were from Eritrea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iran, Ethiopia, Libya, Syria, Egypt, Kuwait and Iraq.

Mr Retailleau wrote on X: “Today several people died trying to cross the Channel. A child was trampled to death in a boat.

“A terrible tragedy that should make us all aware of the tragedy that is unfolding.

“The human smugglers 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 border crossings of death.”

Home Affairs Minister Yvette Cooper said she had been in contact with the French Interior Minister.

She posted on X on Saturday afternoon: “It is devastating that more lives have been lost in the Channel today, including a young child, as criminal smuggling gangs continue to organize these dangerous boat crossings.

“The gangs don’t care whether people live or die – this is a terrible trade in lives.”

Dr. Wanda Wyporska, chief executive of Safe Passage International, said: “It is devastating that a child has reportedly been trampled and more people have lost their lives trying to cross the Channel to safety.

“Far too many people have been killed this year by smugglers exploiting the lack of safe routes for refugees in Britain.

“Refugees cannot claim asylum in Britain without being in the country.

“Without safe routes for refugees to get here, we will only see more children, women and men dying in desperate attempts to reach a safe place where they can rebuild their lives with their families. The government must urgently provide them with safe routes to do so.”

The fatal incident comes after the Home Office confirmed that 395 migrants arriving in Britain crossed the English Channel on Friday, the first arrivals in five days.

This compared to 25,330 on the same date last year and 33,611 in 2022.

The Home Secretary promised an immediate investment of £75 million in border security, with funding made available to the National Crime Agency to pay for covert operations equipment to disrupt people smugglers.

The Home Office said this will support the conduct of criminal investigations and disruption operations in Britain, across Europe and in upstream countries.

This week, Britain and other G7 countries agreed on an action plan against smuggling 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.”

The Home Secretary said: “Criminal smuggling gangs organizing small boat crossings are undermining our border security and endangering lives, as we have tragically seen again today.

“The new government is quickly accelerating cooperation with other countries to crack down on these dangerous gangs. This includes financing new technology to support specialized operations carried out across Europe and beyond.

“It is vital that we disrupt the way these violent and dangerous gangs operate. That means going after their supply chains so that boats and motorbikes don’t reach the French coast, and monitoring the flows of money through the criminal networks.

“In the coming months we will expand our Border Security Command, recruit more law enforcement officers and work more closely with our European partners to ensure these criminal gangs are stopped and brought to justice.”