Three Dead, Including Child, in Channel Crossing Attempt

Three people, including a 10-year-old child, died off the French coast near Wissant on Monday when an inflatable dinghy carrying 105 people ran into trouble during an attempt to cross the Channel to Britain, French authorities said.¹³

The incident

The Guardian and Al Jazeera reported that French maritime police were alerted by an emergency call placed in the predawn hours from the overcrowded inflatable vessel, which held 105 passengers. The vessel ran into difficulty in calm seas off Wissant, in the Pas-de-Calais department. The local prefecture said conditions were favourable, quoting the prefecture: "Sea conditions were calm – the weather is good."¹³

Accounts of what happened aboard differ. The Guardian reported that the boat capsized, causing the deaths of the child and two women; medics attempted to resuscitate three passengers aboard the vessel before an emergency medical team declared them deceased. According to the South China Morning Post and France 24, it appeared the child and the two women lost their lives after being trampled or crushed amid the crowded conditions aboard a vessel holding over 100 passengers. The dinghy itself had not sunk, Al Jazeera reported.¹⁴⁵

Accounts also vary on where the boat departed. The local prefect, François Xavier Lauch, said: "The dinghy left the area of Sangatte in northern France at around 5.15am carrying 105 people," according to the South China Morning Post, which also reported the boat was six kilometres off the coast when rescue was called. By contrast, The Straits Times reported that the dinghy had launched from the beach at Bleriot Plage near Calais. Authorities quoted by the South China Morning Post said: "The boat ran into difficulty with its passengers asking for help."²⁴

The Guardian reported that dozens of others were injured. The Straits Times said all other passengers were rescued. Rescue boats were deployed to search for people in the water, and a rescue boat later arrived at Calais port in mid-morning to disembark those rescued, with emergency vehicles also deployed at the scene.¹³

Official response

According to the local prefecture, an initial count showed three people had died, with numerous others sustaining injuries. Separately, UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood was due to announce that Britain's resettlement scheme would reopen immediately, with about a quarter of places expected to go to Palestinians and to women and girls from Afghanistan. The Guardian quoted an aide describing fairness as being "at the heart of her vision for the Home Office."¹

The French Interior Ministry addressed a separate political proposal, from the opposition Reform UK party, to deploy the British navy to intercept and return asylum seekers crossing the Channel. The ministry said "the measure would breach international law," according to Al Jazeera. France and the UK signed an agreement in April aimed at strengthening operations to prevent crossings.³

Wider context

The Guardian noted that France's northern shoreline has emerged as a major departure point for undocumented migrants, with smuggling networks reportedly operating "taxi boats" that gather passengers along the coastline—at times arriving from inland waters nearly unoccupied—before launching Channel crossings. The South China Morning Post pointed out that those seeking asylum hand over several thousand dollars to smuggling operations in exchange for passage on these inflatable boats. In a separate incident at Gravelines, police fired tear gas to disperse migrants and slashed an inflatable dinghy, according to the Straits Times.¹²⁴

According to The Guardian, at least 17 people have died in the Channel this year attempting to reach the UK, and three bodies were found last week following water taxi departures. There were also two uncontrolled landings in the UK last week, in which dinghies arrived without interception. The Guardian cited more than 41,000 crossings last year and said at least 29 people lost their lives attempting the crossing last year, a figure also reported by Al Jazeera. According to The Guardian, this year's crossing total currently stands at 18,609—a drop exceeding 40 percent versus the equivalent period in 2025, and more than 25 percent below the 2024 figure of 25,165 crossings recorded by this time.¹³

The Straits Times reported that more than 80 people, including a baby, were feared dead in August attempting to reach the Canary Islands by sea, and noted that irregular migration to the European Union has fallen sharply since the 2015 refugee crisis peak, according to The Guardian. Pope Leo, speaking in Metz, urged Europeans "to welcome migrants fleeing war, persecution and hardship as if they were part of one's own family," the Straits Times reported.¹²

The Straits Times characterized migration as continuing to be among the most contentious topics in European politics, pointing to Marine Le Pen's position as the leading contender for France's upcoming presidential race and to the pressure Reform UK is placing on Britain's governing Labour party. The Straits Times reported that French authorities have stationed police forces across the country's northern shoreline in an effort to discourage both smuggling activity and migrant crossings.²