A migrant boat sank in the English Channel, leaving six dead

CNN
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Authorities say six people have died after a boat carrying migrants sank in the English Channel, while two people are still missing.

Local French authorities said that according to testimonies of survivors, there were 65 or 66 people on board the boat that sank. They added that the British authorities transferred more than 20 people to Dover.

The local mayor, Frank Dresden chirp Photo of some rescued migrants on a rescue boat covered in golden aluminum blankets.

Here is another disaster off the coast of Calais/Oissan with many migrants drowning. One day we will have to stop simply recording the number of deaths in the Channel and the Mediterranean,” he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

All six people who drowned were Afghan men, according to Pemana Asad, an alderman in the London borough of Harrow.

Afghans flee Afghanistan because of the Taliban. They are in small boats because the UK government will not open up safe and legal routes to Afghans like they did to Ukrainians. I wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The English Channel is one of the busiest waterways in the world and crossing on small boats is extremely dangerous.

Human traffickers commonly overload ships, and deaths are common on choppy seas.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – whose ruling Conservatives are struggling in the election – has made stopping boats making the perilous crossing across the English Channel one of his top priorities.

But government figures showed 755 migrants were crossing the Channel into the UK on Thursday. The number is the highest recorded on a single day this year.

As of this week, 100,000 migrants have crossed the canal since 2018, including nearly 16,000 this year, according to the figures.

On Friday, 39 asylum seekers were removed from a controversial barge intended to house hundreds of people after Legionella bacteria were discovered in the waters.

French authorities stepped up patrols and other deterrent measures after the UK agreed in March to send hundreds of millions of euros to Paris annually.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Bourne said in a statement tweet Her “thoughts are with the victims” of the immigrant boat that capsized.

“I salute the commitment of the rescue teams mobilized around (the French Navy) that have rescued about fifty people from drowning,” she said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding that France’s Minister of State for Sea Affairs, Hervé Berville, was heading to the scene.

British Home Secretary Soella Braverman also chirphe writes, “My thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the tragic loss of life at the Canal today.”

“This morning I spoke to our border guard teams who were supporting the French authorities in response to this incident,” she added.