Four people dead after migrant boat capsizes in Channel
Four people have died after a migrant boat capsized in the English Channel.
The Royal Navy, French navy, Coastguard and RNLI lifeboats were all involved in a major rescue operation off the Kent coast on Wednesday morning.
RNLI lifeboats were launched from Dover at 3.07am, followed by more from Ramsgate and Hastings.
A Government spokesman said: “At 0305 today, authorities were alerted to an incident in the Channel concerning a migrant small boat in distress.
“After a coordinated search and rescue operation led by HM Coastguard, it is with regret that there have been four confirmed deaths as a result of this incident, investigations are ongoing and we will provide further information in due course.
“This is a truly tragic incident. Our thoughts are with the friends and families of all those who have lost their lives today.”
Government sources told the PA news agency 43 people were rescued, with more than 30 of those pulled from the water.
In Dover, a black body bag was brought to shore on a stretcher from the Dover RNLI lifeboat at around 11.15am. It was taken up to waiting forensics tents outside the RNLI headquarters.
There are likely to have been freezing temperatures in the Channel overnight amid a cold snap sweeping across the UK.
The temperature recorded at Dungeness overnight was between 0C and 1C, according to the Met Office.
The tragedy came a day after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled a raft of new measures in a bid to curb Channel crossings as he told MPs in the Commons: “We have to stop the boats.”
More than 44,000 people have made the dangerous crossing this year, Government figures show.
At least 27 migrants died when a dinghy sank while heading to the UK from France in November last year.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman is expected to make a statement on the incident in the Commons on Wednesday afternoon.
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