Fourth person arrested after five migrants die in Channel crossing tragedy

A FOURTH person has been arrested on suspicion of immigration offences after five migrants, including a child, died trying to cross the English Channel.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said an 18-year-old from Sudan was arrested on Wednesday evening at Manston migrant processing centre in Kent, and is now being questioned in custody.

It comes as officers also detained a 22-year-old Sudanese man and a 22-year-old man from South Sudan on Wednesday.

They were arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration and entering the UK illegally.

A 19-year-old man from Sudan initially arrested on Tuesday has since been released without charge and is now being dealt with by immigration authorities, the NCA added.

The 55 surviving boat passengers have already been interviewed and are expected to be spoken to further in the coming days.

More than 400 migrants arrived in the UK on the day the group died.

An NCA spokesperson added the agency and partners from Kent Police, Immigration Enforcement and Border Force are working with French counterparts to investigate the circumstances of the deadly incident on a beach near Wimereux, in northern France, on Tuesday.

A dinghy carrying more than 100 people set off from Wimereux at around 6am on Tuesday but got into difficulty.

Three men, a woman and a girl aged seven died, according to the French coastguard.

Some 49 people were rescued but 58 others refused to leave the boat and continued their journey towards the UK, the coastguard said in a statement.

The incident reportedly took place as rival migrant groups all tried to scramble into the boat, causing it to become heavily overcrowded.