One dead and another fighting for life after small boat carrying 66 migrants sinks in Channel

No 10 says woman’s death is ‘stark reminder’ of the importance of Sunak’s stop the boats plan

A woman is dead and another migrant is fighting for their life after a small boat crossing the English Channel sank early this morning, according to French authorities.

The boat, carrying 66 migrants in all, was discovered shipwrecked almost four miles from the French coast at around 1am on Friday.

The survivors have been taken to Calais, where the person in a life-threatening condition is being treated in hospital. Searches are continuing by air and sea, the coastguard said.

No 10 said Rishi Sunak’s thoughts are “with all those who are affected” – but said the death “serves as a stark reminder of how dangerous these crossings are and just how crucial it is that we work together to stop the boats”.

However, campaigners said the “avoidable tragedy” showed why the Sunak government must open up more legal routes for asylum seekers.

The boat was discovered with a deflated tube, surrounded by people in the water, by French coastguards early this morning around 3.7 miles from the coast.

A rescue ship arrived in under 30 minutes and found one of the boat’s tubes was deflated and people in the water, the French national coastguard agency said.

File photo of migrants crossing the English Channel in a small boat (PA Wire)

The first passengers were rescued at 1.15am, with 66 people taken to safety in two other recovery vessels an hour later.

Two people were found unconscious. One female casualty could not be resuscitated, and a second person was flown by helicopter to a Calais hospital in a life-threatening condition.

James Cleverly said the government “must and will do more” after a migrant died and another was left in a critical condition following the sinking of a boat in the Channel.

The home secretary said in a post on X that the death was “a horrific reminder of the people smugglers’ brutality. 25,000 people have been averted from crossing this year – but we must and will do more … Every boat stopped is a potential life saved.”

Tory minister Andrew Griffith told Sky News that it showed why it was “really important” to push the Rwanda deportation bill through parliament “to absolutely remove the incentive, break the economic model of people smugglers, so that we can stop this terrible trade”.

Labour party chair Anneliese Dodds said there “needs to be far more done to break up” the human trafficking gangs that are facilitating migrant boat crossings.

She told Sky News: “It is obviously absolutely awful, heartbreaking news. One can barely imagine what it must have been like in the middle of the night with freezing cold water and the terror and fear for people on that vessel.”

The Labour frontbencher added: “And I think yet again this underlines really that the criminal people-smuggling gangs are putting individuals in absolutely appalling danger … there needs to be far more done to break up those criminal people smuggling gangs.”

Rishi Sunak said his Rwanda Bill will help him deliver his ‘stop the boats’ pledge (PA Wire)

The Sunak government continues to struggle with finalising its plan to send some asylum seekers on deportation flights to Rwanda. The PM claims it will act as a “deterrent” to people crossing.

Enver Solomon, chief executive officer of the Refugee Council, mourned “yet another terrible and avoidable tragedy” – saying there was an “urgent” need for the government to offer more safe and legal routes for asylum seekers.

“Instead, the government is pushing ahead with its unworkable and unprincipled Rwanda plan as well as shutting down existing safe ways to get to the UK,” he said.

The campaigner added: “People flee persecution and violence out of desperation, to find safety and protect their families. The government must take action now and respond in a compassionate way to prevent future tragedies and protect human life.”

The UK Coastguard said it had sent a helicopter to assist French authorities who were co-ordinating the operation.

So far this year more than 29,000 people have reached the UK in small boats. This represents a fall of around a third on the same period last year.

There were more than 45,700 arrivals in 2022. There were 28,526 in 2021, compared with 8,466 in 2020, 1,843 in 2019 and 299 in 2018.

The English Channel is one of the most dangerous and busiest shipping lanes in the world, with 600 tankers and 200 ferries passing through it every day. In August, at least six people died after a boat carrying migrants sank in the Channel off the French coast.