Drama surrounding migrant boat

Tragedy in the English Channel: Child trampled to death

Rescue cation in the English Channel (archive image): A child was trampled to death on board a boat.

(Bild: AFP)

Following a tragic incident in the English Channel, several migrants have died, including a two-year-old child. The French interior minister speaks of a "terrible tragedy".

According to French media reports citing the Pas-de-Calais prefecture and the public prosecutor's office in Boulogne-sur-Mer, the child was trampled to death in the migrant boat.

Four fatalities
Local media reported a total of four fatalities. According to the newspaper "La Voix Du Nord", three people died off Calais and one person near Boulogne. 

The deceased child did not drown during the crossing attempt, but suffocated in the overloaded boat. According to the public prosecutor's office, the two-year-old was a boy born in Germany to a 24-year-old mother of Somali origin.

The smugglers have the blood of these people on their hands and our government will step up the fight against these mafias that enrich themselves by organizing these death crossings.

Der französische Innenminister Bruno Retailleau

On X, France's Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau called the tragedy a terrible tragedy that should make us all aware of the tragedy that is taking place there. "The smugglers have the blood of these people on their hands, and our government will step up the fight against these mafias that enrich themselves by organizing these death crossings," Retailleau wrote.

"It is terrible that more people have died in the English Channel, including a young child, while criminal trafficking gangs continue to organize these dangerous boat crossings," UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told X.

"These gangs don't care if people live or die," Cooper wrote.

A further 395 migrants reached the UK on Friday after no arrivals were reported for days. The authorities have registered a total of 25,639 arrivals across the Channel so far this year. This figure is just above the same period last year.

English Channel: Deadliest year since 2018
The English Channel has become a much-used migration route in recent years. With at least 40 deaths, 2024 is considered one of the deadliest years since 2018.