Seven-year-old girl drowns in English Channel crossing, officials say

The number of Channel arrivals is 32% lower than the total recorded this time last year (Gareth Fuller/PA)

A seven-year-old girl has died after a boat carrying 16 migrants capsized in the English Channel, French officials said.

The girl who drowned had been travelling with her pregnant mother, her father and three siblings when the boat got into trouble in the early morning of March 3, local authority Prefet du Nord said.