Police investigate deaths of four people in Channel

Kent Police said they are looking into the circumstances surrounding Wednesday’s incident with the National Crime Agency.

(Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Wire)

Detectives are investigating after four people died when a migrant boat capsized in the Channel.

Kent Police said they are looking into the circumstances surrounding the incident on Wednesday with the National Crime Agency (NCA), amid reports that those on board paid thousands of pounds to people-smugglers to make the journey to the UK.

Officers are also trying to identify the people who died and track down their relatives, the force said on Friday.

Reports of a boat in distress in the early hours of Wednesday morning prompted a major search and rescue operation off the coast of Kent involving the British and French navies, the UK Coastguard, the RNLI, police and ambulance services.

A fishing boat was the first on the scene and was one of three to help with the rescue.

Thirty-nine people were found alive, many of whom were pulled from the freezing water. The search was called off at 5pm on Thursday.

Migrants on board the dinghy told fishermen they had paid £5,000 each to people-smugglers for the journey from France to the UK, according to media reports.

It has since emerged that another rescue took place on the same day.

Government officials said a different boat carrying 50 people started to sink and five ended up in the water, but everyone was rescued by Border Force teams.

This incident, tragically, highlights the dangers of these crossings, a high percentage of which are facilitated by organised criminal networks

NCA director-general Graeme Biggar

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced more funding for the NCA – Britain’s version of the FBI – to tackle organised immigration crime in Europe.

NCA director-general Graeme Biggar said: “This incident, tragically, highlights the dangers of these crossings, a high percentage of which are facilitated by organised criminal networks.

“They treat people as a commodity to be profited from and think nothing of putting them in incredibly dangerous situations. Working with our partners on both sides of the Channel we are determined to find those responsible and bring them to justice.”

The NCA is also involved in the French inquiry into the deaths of at least 27 migrants in the Channel last year.