Three migrants feared drowned in Channel

THREE Channel migrants were missing last night in what would be the biggest loss of life off the coast of England since the crisis exploded in 2019 .

Two plucked from a tiny dinghy in the North Sea told rescuers that three others had gone overboard during their 50-mile, 48-hour voyage from Calais.

The five set off near Calais on Saturday night but were driven off course by swells and winds, ending up 35 miles from Harwich on the Essex coast. The two who were picked up on Monday night told rescuers that two were lost on Saturday. An air and sea search was under way yesterday for the third, said to have gone overboard yesterday.

It follows two known fatal accidents in French waters. A 27-year-old Eritrean man died in August after a boat carrying 36 people began to sink near France.

Five members of a Kurdish-iranian family, including a 15-month-old boy, died in October last year after their boat capsized in French waters.

A government source said: “It highlights the need for the French to prevent these boats leaving. That’s the only way to stop this.” Tim Loughton, of the home affairs committee, said: “This is not the right way to cross the Channel. It is a life-and-death experience and people should not be doing it.”

Natalie Elphicke, MP for Dover, said: “I have long been warning of the risk of more deaths this winter. This underlines the dangers of these illegal journeys. The French must do more to stop boats leaving their coast in the first place in order to save lives.”

The rescue began at 4pm on Monday with Border Force, HM Coastguard and RNLI deployed through to yesterday on a search for the migrants lost.