Emergencies - Migrant boat in distress in the English Channel - one person dead
A person has died while attempting to cross the English Channel from France to Great Britain. According to the French maritime prefecture, rescue workers were unable to resuscitate the unconscious person.
Another person was seriously injured and taken to hospital in the northern French town of Calais. 64 migrants in distress on board the shipwrecked boat were rescued.
According to the maritime prefecture, the boat was in distress at night off the coast of Grand-Fort-Philippe between Calais and Dunkerque. Air had escaped from part of the boat and people were in the water. The search for other shipwrecked people is continuing.
Dangerous crossing
British Secretary of State Andrew Griffith told Sky News: "It shows once again how important it is to tackle the terrible business of people traffickers in the English Channel."
Again and again, migrants cross the English Channel in small rubber dinghies. The crossing is dangerous, especially because the arm of the sea is used by many large ships. Time and again, people lose their lives.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has declared it his goal to stop the small boats. People are to be deterred from making the crossing. An agreement with Rwanda should also help with this: The UK wants to send people who enter the country irregularly to Rwanda - regardless of their actual origin. So far, the plan has failed in the courts.
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Source: www.stern.de
