PARIS (AP) — French maritime authorities pulled the bodies of two migrants from the English Channel on Wednesday, pushing the count of dead and missing in French waters so far this year above 50.
Authorities said 46 other people were rescued, after a failed attempt to cross the treacherous waterway between France and England aboard a heavily overloaded inflatable boat.
The French maritime prefecture that oversees French waters in the Channel said this year is proving to be the deadliest for migrants’ crossing attempts aboard small boats since they started surging in 2018.
Before the latest incident, the prefecture had counted 49 dead or missing at sea so far in 2024. It said the new deaths pushed its total to 51.
The rescue operation Wednesday was launched after a life vest was found at sea, and it prompted a temporary halt to some of the commercial ferry services that ply the busy route between ports in northern France and the southern coast of the U.K., the prefecture said.
Two French rescue vessels dispatched to the area and backed by a navy helicopter picked up 48 people “in difficulty” in the waters, a statement from the prefecture said.
Of those, two were unresponsive, it said. Attempts were made to revive them but their deaths were confirmed by medical teams back on land in the northern French port of Calais, the prefecture said.
The overloading of flimsy boats used in crossing attempts sometimes causes them to collapse, rip open and sink. Inflatables that are built to carry no more than 20 people often attempt the voyage with three times that many aboard, and sometimes more, the prefecture said.
A baby died and 65 people had to be rescued in another failed crossing attempt on an overloaded boat that sank last week.
Four migrants, including a 2-year-old child, also died earlier this month in two separate incidents in similar crossing attempts.
Last month, at least 20 migrants died in several shipwrecks in the Channel.
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