Migrant boat sinks in English Channel; scores dead
PARIS » At least 31 migrants bound for Britain died Wednesday when their boat sank in the English Channel, in what France’s interior minister called the biggest tragedy involving migrants on the dangerous crossing to date.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 34 people were believed to have been on the boat. Authorities found 31 bodies — including those of five women and a young girl — and two survivors, he said. One person appeared to still be missing. The nationalities of the travelers was not immediately known.
Ever-increasing numbers of people fleeing conflict or poverty are risking the perilous journey in small, unseaworthy craft from France, hoping to get asylum or better opportunities in Britain.
A joint French-British search operation for survivors was still under way late Wednesday.
Four suspected traffickers were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of being linked to the sunken boat, Darmanin told reporters in the French port city of Calais. He said two of the suspects later appeared in court.
The regional prosecutor opened an investigation into aggravated manslaughter, organized illegal migration and other charges after the sinking. Lille Prosecutor Carole Etienne, whose office is overseeing the investigation, said officials were still working to identify the victims and determine their ages and nationalities.
She said the investigation may involve multiple countries as more information about the passengers emerges.
“It’s a day of great mourning for France, for Europe, for humanity to see these people die at sea,” Darmanin said.
He called for coordination with the U.K., saying “the response must also come from Great Britain.”
Noting other deadly past incidents involving migrants in the same waters, Darmanin lashed out at “criminal traffickers” driving thousands to risk the crossing.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson convened a meeting of the government’s crisis committee, and Darmanin rushed to see survivors in a Calais hospital. The two governments have long been at odds over how to prevent the crossings, with both sides blaming the other for not doing enough.
Johnson said he was “shocked, appalled and deeply saddened.” He urged France to step up efforts to stem the flow of migrants across the English Channel, and said that Wednesday’s incident highlighted how efforts by French authorities to patrol their beaches “haven’t been enough.”
He reiterated that Britain wants to work with the French to “break the business model” of gangsters.
“Our offer is to increase our support but also to work together with our partners on the beaches concerned, on the launching grounds for these boats,” Johnson told reporters. “We’ve had difficulties persuading some of our partners, particularly the French, to do things in a way that we think the situation deserves.”
A French naval boat spotted several bodies in the water around 2 p.m. and retrieved an unknown number of dead and injured, including some who were unconscious, a maritime authority spokesperson said.
Three French patrol boats were joined by a French helicopter and a British helicopter in searching the area, according to the French maritime agency for the region.
Jean-Marc Puissesseau, head of the ports of Calais and Boulogne, told The Associated Press that he spoke to one of the rescuers who brought some of the bodies to the Calais port.
“Traffickers are assassins,” he said. “We were waiting for something like this to happen.”