One Drowned In New Channel Migrant Disaster: French Officials

Lille, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Dec, 2023) One person was drowned and another seriously hurt overnight from Thursday to Friday when a boat carrying dozens of migrants trying to reach the English coast capsized in the Channel, French maritime authorities said.

Two more people are "potentially missing", the regional maritime prefecture told AFP. A total of 66 people were retrieved from the boat, including the two casualties, it added.

Among those recovered, "one unconscious victim, in critical condition, was taken by helicopter to the hospital in Calais" while a second "could not be revived".

The critically hurt person's condition later stabilised, a source familiar with the case told AFP.

French sea rescue coordinators at Gris Nez, near the northern port city Calais, were warned during the night that a migrant boat was in difficulty less than eight kilometres (five miles) from the coast.

A rescue vessel arrived in the area at around 30 minutes past midnight (2330 GMT), maritime authorities said.

After the crew found one of the migrant boat's buoyancy tubes "deflated" and people "in the water", they brought everyone they could find back to Calais.

Another person was seriously hurt in a separate Channel crossing attempt Friday morning off Sangatte, just outside Calais, local authorities said.

Boats and aircraft are still looking for remaining survivors, while French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin is expected in Calais on Friday morning on a previously scheduled visit.