Four die as migrant boat capsizes in ‘tragic loss of life’ in Channel
Four people have died after a migrant boat capsized in the English Channel in an incident Rishi Sunak described as a “tragic loss of human life”.
The Prime Minister expressed his “sorrow” at the “capsizing of a small boat” in the Channel, which sunk in ice-cold waters between Kent and France.
The Royal Navy, French navy, Coastguard and RNLI lifeboats were all involved in a major rescue operation off the Kent coast yesterdaymorning.
RNLI lifeboats were launched from Dover at 3:07am, followed by more from Ramsgate and Hastings.
A UK Government spokesman said: “Authorities were alerted to an incident in the Channel concerning a migrant small boat in distress.
“After a co-ordinated search and rescue operation led by HM Coastguard, it is with regret that there have been four confirmed deaths as a result of this incident. Investigations are ongoing and we will provide further information in due course.
“This is a truly tragic incident. Our thoughts are with the friends and families of all those who have lost their lives today.”
Government sources said 43 people were rescued, with more than 30 of those pulled from the water. A fisherman told Sky News that migrants surrounded his boat in the early hours of the morning “screaming for help”.
The skipper, named only as Raymond, said his crew saved 31 people stranded in the Channel, adding: “It was like something out of a Second World War movie – there were people in the water everywhere, screaming.”
Footage showed a group of people, squashed inside a sinking dinghy that was filling with water, being hauled up over the side of a boat with rope.
It was reported that a distressedvoicemessagewassent from a sinking boat to French charity Utopia 56, which helps migrants in Calais.
Nikolai Posner, the charity’s communications officer, told the paper the 22-second Whatsapp voice message was left at 1:53am UK time.
In the message, a man can reportedly be heard pleading for help and saying: “We are in the water and we have family.”
In the Commons, Mr Sunak said: “I’m sure the whole House will share my sorrow at the capsizing of a small boat in the Channel in the early hours of this morning, and the tragic loss of human life.
“Our hearts go out to all those affected and our tributes to those involved in the extensive rescue operation.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “Our prayers go out to those who capsized in the freezing waters of the Channel last night. It’s a reminder that the criminal gangs running those routes put the lives of the desperate at risk and profit from their misery. They must be broken up and brought to justice.”
Dover and Deal MP Natalie Elphicke urged Mr Sunak to “meet urgently” with French President Emmanuel Macron to set up joint patrols in the Channel and on the beaches to prevent boats entering the water and to save lives.
In Dover, a black body bag was brought ashore on a stretcher from the Dover RNLI lifeboat around 11:15am and taken to forensics tents outside the RNLI headquarters.