Sharjah 24 – AFP: At least 12 migrants died off the northern French coast on Tuesday trying to cross the Channel to England in the deadliest such disaster this year, the French government said after a major rescue operation.
Announcing the death toll on X, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin also said that two migrants were still missing.
Several were injured after their boat carrying dozens ran into trouble off Wimereux, a town some five kilometres (three miles) from Boulogne-sur-Mer on the French coast.
A source close to the investigation said the dead included three minors.
According to the Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor, Guirec Le Bras, the migrants who died were mostly from Eritrea. Ten of them were female and two male, he said. Half the total were minors.
Crew on a French government-operated ship, the Minck, were the first to become aware of the emergency and to respond, naval officer Etienne Baggio said.
French navy helicopters, fishing boats and military vessels were mobilised for the operation, he said.
It was the deadliest such disaster this year which has already seen 25 people die in migrant crossings, up from 12 in 2023.
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