By Robert Folker and Sabrina Penty Published: 13:18 EDT, 5 October 2024 | Updated: 13:21 EDT, 5 October 2024
A two-year-old boy is among four migrants who died in ‘two tragedies’ involving two overcrowded boats off the coast of France while attempting to cross the English Channel today, the Prefect of Pas-de-Calais region has confirmed.  A woman and two men have also died.It comes after the French interior minister Bruno Retailleau posted on X that ‘several people had died’.Local newspaper, La Voix Du Nord, has reported that three people had died off Calais and one near Boulogne, with rescue operations ongoing.Mr Retailleau posted: ‘Today several people died trying to cross the Channel. A child was trampled to death in a boat.’A terrible tragedy that must make us all aware of the tragedy that is unfolding. The French interior minister Bruno Retailleau posted on X that ‘several people had died’. Pictured: A small boat crossing the English Channel earlier today Local reports say that three people had died off Calais and one near Boulogne, with rescue operations ongoing The fatal incident comes after the Home Office confirmed that 395 migrants arrived in the UK crossed the English Channel on Friday in the first arrivals in five days Dozen of migrants crossed the Channel this morning escorted by the French Navy – who even asked Border Force officers to pick them up ‘The people smugglers have the blood of these people on their hands and our government will intensify the fight against these mafias who are getting rich by organising these crossings of death.’France’s prime minister Michel Barnier said the country needs a stricter immigration policy, claiming he would be ‘ruthless’ with people traffickers who profit from human misery.Writing on X, UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described the deaths as appalling’ and said criminal gangs ‘do not care if people live or die – this is a terrible trade in lives’. The fatal incident comes after the Home Office confirmed that 395 migrants arrived in the UK crossed the English Channel on Friday in the first arrivals in five days.The latest arrivals, who had travelled in seven boats, bring the total for the year to 25,639.This compares to 25,330 by the same date last year and 33,611 in 2022.Some of those arriving on Friday were pictured wearing life jackets as they were brought to shore at Dover on a Border Force vessel.The arrivals came on the same day as the UK and other G7 nations agreed an anti-smuggling action plan designed to boost co-operation on the issue following talks in Italy.The Home Office said this includes joint investigations and intelligence-sharing in a bid to target criminal smuggling routes.The action plan also details ‘working collaboratively’ with social media companies to monitor the internet and different platforms to prevent them being used to enable migrant smuggling and people trafficking.
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This includes calling on social media companies ‘to do more to respond to online content that advertises migrant smuggling services’. A Home Office spokesman said: ‘We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.’As we have seen with so many recent devastating tragedies in the Channel, the people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.’We are making progress, bolstering our personnel numbers in the UK and abroad. Our new Border Security Command will strengthen our global partnerships and enhance our efforts to investigate, arrest and prosecute these evil criminals.’
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Two-year-old boy ‘trampled to death’ in latest small boats disaster as French authorities confirm ‘two tragedies’ in two overcrowded boats also led to deaths of man and woman