A 10-year-old boy and two women died after passengers were reportedly crushed inside an overcrowded migrant boat during an attempted English Channel crossing.
The incident happened early today off Wissant, several miles south of Calais, with dozens of other people suffering serious injuries.
Francois-Xavier Lauch, prefect of Pas-de-Calais, said at a press conference on Monday that the victims did not appear to have drowned. “Apparently there was no drowning; it was likely crushing, which is just as dreadful, especially when we think of the 10-year-old child,” he said.
An emergency responder at the scene confirmed that an investigation had been launched to establish exactly how the three people died.
Authorities had not immediately released the victims’ identities, although they were understood to be Eritrean asylum seekers.
About 105 people were aboard the vessel, which local officials described as a “water taxi”.
The boat was believed to have travelled from an inland waterway with relatively few people on board before collecting passengers from the shoreline at Wissant.
Emergency workers wrapped survivors rescued from the migrant boat in thermal blankets.
Migrants clashed with French police in a separate incident as they tried to launch a Channel crossing from Gravelines this morning.
Officers maintained a presence at the port of Calais after three migrants, including a child, died during an attempted Channel crossing.
A spokesperson for the prefecture said the sea had been calm and conditions were favourable, adding that “the weather is good”.
At 10.30am local time, six rescue vessels remained in the area around the capsized boat as crews continued searching for survivors.
The prefect described early autumn as a particularly sensitive period, when the weather can remain mild even as the sea begins to turn more hazardous.
“It is during these times that crossings are the most dangerous,” he said.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said the government was “deeply saddened” by the deaths reported in France.
The spokesperson said the tragedy highlighted the risks created by criminal gangs that profit from exploiting vulnerable people.
They added that the Prime Minister remained committed to doing more to stop people from embarking on such dangerous journeys.
The latest incident came just days after three migrants died while scrambling to secure places aboard a boat last week.
French prosecutors have opened criminal investigations into the separate tragedies, with judicial police leading the enquiries.
The deaths bring the number of people who have died while attempting to cross the Channel to Britain this year to at least 24, including women and children.
Many have drowned, while others have been crushed to death in overcrowded boats.
The worst tragedy of this kind came in November 2021, when 27 migrants died after a dinghy sank while heading to the UK – the highest recorded number of deaths from a single incident.
Multiple attempts at crossings have taken place from the coast of northern France over the last few days, as the smugglers take advantage of calm seas and good weather.
According to figures from the Home Office, 781 migrants arrived in Britain last Wednesday – the highest single-day total recorded so far this year.
In total, 18,565 migrants have reached England via this route since January, a figure down by more than 40 per cent compared with the same period in 2025.
The surge in crossings also indicates that people-trafficking gangs are still getting hold of dinghies and outboard motors with ease, despite a crackdown on supply routes.
Migrants gather as they try to leave the coast of northern France in an attempt to cross the English Channel to reach Britain, from the Petit-Fort-Philippe beach in Gravelines this morning
Some of the migrants reacted by throwing mud and sand as they were moved on by French police
Last week also saw two ‘uncontrolled landings’ in which migrant boats reached the UK without being intercepted by the authorities.
In further chaotic scenes, a dinghy launched from near Bayeux, in Normandy, made a record 38-hour voyage.
They launched just before 10am on Monday and, on Tuesday afternoon, were picked up by RNLI lifeboats and later transferred to a Border Force cutter.
The 51 migrants aboard were eventually brought ashore to Dover in the early hours of Wednesday.