Migrant who died in Channel was African man in late-20s

Young man was trying to reach Britain when boat carrying 35 people, including families, got into difficulty

(Getty Images)

A person who died while trying to reach the UK after the boat he and others were travelling in sank was an African man in his late-20s, the French authorities have said.

Search and rescue teams were called to the Channel at around 10am on Thursday morning after a vessel carrying 36 people, including families, got into difficulty roughly 13 nautical miles off Dunkirk.

The man was found unconscious by the cargo ship’s life boat after reportedly suffering a cardio-respiratory arrest.

He was then transferred to a French patrol boat before being airlifted to hospital in Calais, where he later passed away passed away in the hospital, according to the public prosecutor’s office in Dunkirk.

Some passengers were brought to safety on the same Belgian Air Force helicopter, while others were helped by nearby fishing boats.

The public prosecutor said an investigation was underway for “endangering the lives of others, manslaughter and assistance with the illegal entry or stay of foreigners in France”.

Steve Valdez-Symonds, refugee and migrant rights director at Amnesty International UK, said the Home Office must take the tragedy as an “urgent wake-up call”.

“We are deeply saddened by this loss of life and our thoughts are with the family and friends who have lost their loved one. It’s only a matter of time before once again someone loses their life trying to reach safety in the UK because of the woeful lack of safe means to do so,” he said.

Sarah Teather, director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, said: “The desperation of people making this treacherous journey is an indictment of our failure to provide safe means of sanctuary to those fleeing for their lives.”

It comes the day after 108 migrants were rescued while attempting to make the crossing from France to England on four separate dinghies. One of them was taken to hospital in Dunkirk for treatment.

More than 10,000 people have made the dangerous journey across the world’s busiest shipping lane so far in 2021, far exceeding the 8,410 people who did so last year. On 19 July, 430 asylum seekers reached the Kent shore, more than on any other previous day.

A number of people have lost their lives while travelling by boat from France to England to claim asylum. This includes Rasoul Iran-Nezhad and his wife Shiva Mohammad Panahi, who died along with their three children when their dinghy capsized in the Channel on 27 October 2020.