Girl, 7, drowns in attempt to cross Channel

Three arrests after migrant boat sinks

A GIRL aged seven died when a migrant boat sank while trying to cross the Channel.

Her pregnant mum survived and was sent to hospital after 16 people were caught up in the tragedy in northern France yesterday.

The boat, believed to have been stolen, was carrying 10 young children. None wore life jackets.

Three people were arrested last night over the death of the girl, who also travelled with her dad and three brothers and sisters.

Their boat sank at 6.30am in a canal in Watten, around 20 miles from the Dunkirk coast.

Dunkirk prosecutor Charlotte Huet said the girl was pulled out of the water but died due to “cardiorespiratory arrest”.

All the surviving children were taken into care by social services.

A criminal inquiry was opened for “manslaughter, unintentionally causing injuries, criminal conspiracy and aiding illegal immigration within an organised gang, while endangering others”. The migrants had hoped to enter the Channel near the Belgian border, before sailing to the UK. An investigator said: “It is a route used by smugglers. The boat was overloaded and too flimsy. “There was chaos in the water after the boat collapsed.”

It comes after three migrants died in the Channel last week. Some 29,437 people arrived in the UK on small boats in 2023, down 36% on a record 45,774 in 2022. The Government aims to stop migrants by sending some to Rwanda despite the policy being unlawful. Home Office data showed more than 2,000 Channel migrants have arrived in the UK so far this year. It is 32% lower than 2,953 for this time last year but 49% higher than 1,482 at this stage in 2022.

16

Number of migrants who were onboard boat that sank in northern France