Escape across the English Channel

Refugee boat capsized: seven-year-old girl dead

A seven-year-old girl has died when a refugee boat capsized in northern France. The girl was on the boat with her parents and three siblings. Her family survived the accident, as did the other migrants on the boat. 

A total of 16 migrants had set off in the boat early on Sunday morning on a canal in the hinterland of Calais in order to reach the English Channel from there for the journey to Great Britain, reported the newspaper "La Voix du Nord" with reference to the police prefecture.

Investigation proceedings initiated
The rescued migrants were looked after in a gym and provided with dry clothes. The police questioned the adults and opened an investigation. It was not clear from the report where the people came from.

For some time now, many migrants have been crossing the English Channel from the northern French coast to the UK in rubber dinghies. Again and again, migrants die during the crossings organized by smugglers.

Just last week, one person died and two people went missing in the water. France is also taking action against migration, which the British government does not want, with financial support from London. The fact that migrants have recently been setting off on waters inland from the English Channel could be linked to this more intensive surveillance of the coast, as reported by the police.