Channel claims first victims of 2024 as five die crossing from France to UK
Rescue services have recovered five bodies from the sea off northern France, they said on Sunday. The victims are believed to have been among some 70 people trying to cross the Channel to the United Kingdom by boat.
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The casualties, who local paper La Voix du Nord said were young adults from Syria and Iraq, are the first people known to have died attempting the crossing in 2024.
Several people were spotted in the water off the coastal town of Wimereux in the early hours of Sunday, the French maritime authority told news agency AFP, estimating the water temperature at the time to be around nine degrees Celsius.
Four bodies were recovered overnight while a fifth was found later on Sunday morning, authorities said in a statement.
One person was taken to hospital in critical condition, while another received treatment for severe hypothermia.
In total French emergency services brought ashore around 70 people, including a dozen young children, according to La Voix du Nord.
"We were drowning right away," one survivor told the paper.
Those rescued were taken to a shelter in the city of Calais.
Freezing temperatures
The last deaths reported in the Channel came on 15 December, when two people were killed in separate attempts to cross.
Maritime authorities said multiple French vessels are operating off the northern coast because conditions in the strait have improved after a spell of bad weather, making crossing attempts more likely.
But freezing winter temperatures still make it a dangerous time to set out.
Jean-Claude Lenoir, head of the Salam association that assists migrants in Calais and the surrounding area, said people took huge risks by trying to board bigger vessels in the water in the current conditions.
"Migrants want to get on board at all costs," he told AFP. "They quickly fall victim to hypothermia or drowning."
Source of tension
Last year nearly 30,000 people made the journey in small boats – around 15,000 fewer than in 2022, when crossings hit a record high.
The conservative British government, which has repeatedly pledged it would stop small boats altogether, partly credits deals it struck with France to provide funding for extra French police patrols to monitor the Channel.
But the issue remains contentious between the two countries, with France accusing the UK of failing to coordinate effectively and warning that boats are increasingly overloaded, increasing the chance they'll capsize.
Twelve people lost their lives in 2023 trying to cross the Channel, according to the maritime prefecture.
Read also:
- UK accused of not doing enough to stop Channel migrant crossings
- French soldiers accused of failing to help in English Channel migrant tragedy
(with newswires)
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