A child has died while attempting to cross the English Channel in a small boat, according to French authorities.
The teenager’s body was found on Sunday morning on a beach in Saint-Étienne-au-Mont, near Boulogne-sur-Mer, after reportedly falling from a crowded dinghy.
The incident came just a day after three other people lost their lives during similar attempts to reach the UK.
Two Somali women were reportedly crushed onboard a boat, while the body of a man was recovered from a canal in Gravelines, near Dunkirk.
French officials said the dinghy carrying the child had been crammed with people, with 48 passengers falling into the water before being rescued.
An investigation into the death has been opened by the Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor.
Laurent Touvet, prefect of Pas-de-Calais, said there had been 41 maritime incidents linked to Channel crossings since Friday evening.
Emergency services had rescued 223 people from the sea since Saturday, he added. “Faced with these deadly crossings organised by unscrupulous criminal networks, the state remains fully mobilised,” Touvet said.
Migrant support group Utopia 56 condemned the tragedies, “The body of a child was found this morning… This is the fourth death announced this weekend, all victims of deadly policies carried out at this border.”
The deaths occurred as crossings surged after a spell of bad weather. UK government figures show 895 people arrived in 12 boats on Saturday, bringing the total number of Channel arrivals this year to more than 33,300.
In recent weeks, Britain and France introduced a “one in, one out” returns deal aimed at deterring crossings. So far, seven people have been sent back to France, while a family of three asylum seekers, including a young child, has been accepted by the UK.
Warning signs in both English and French have also been installed around Calais and Dunkirk, stating that migrants who cross the Channel risk being returned to France.
Despite this, crossings remain high, with 1,072 people arriving in 13 boats on 19 September alone.
