Business Recorder
ÉQUIHEN-PLAGE (France): Four people died on Thursday off the coast of northern France as they tried to board a small boat to cross the Channel to England, taking the number of such deaths this year to six. The two men and two women were swept away by the current near the village of Equihen-Plage, said regional official Francois-Xavier Lauch. Another person was treated for hypothermia, he said, while 37 people were taken into the care of the emergency services. France has long been a launchpad for migrants hoping to cross the Channel and start a better life in Britain, usually risking the journey in flimsy, overcrowded vessels. Lauch said the nationalities of the four dead in Thursday’s disaster were not yet known. Two children were taken to hospital as a “precaution”, the prefecture said in a later update. AFP saw a large number of emergency service vehicles and rescuers gathered on the beach Thursday morning. People stood by a first aid post nearby, many wrapped in thermal blankets and a few wearing life jackets, with one woman carrying a baby. Some were gathering up their possessions before boarding a bus to a reception centre. Lauch told reporters at the scene that the death toll was still “provisional”. The migrants were trying to board a so-called “taxi boat”, officials said, referring to dinghies that leave shore discreetly and almost empty before picking up dozens of migrants wading into shallow waters. The method has been used to try and avoid security forces on the coast from stopping the boats launching. Local prosecutor Cecile Gressier confirmed that the victims were all adults. She added that the boat had “continued on its way” after the failed attempt by the other migrants to board it, carrying around 30 other people. The latest deaths show that smugglers continue to “enrich themselves” by “exploiting the misery and distress” of migrants trying to reach Britain, she said. A UK government spokesperson said they would “continue working relentlessly with the French” to prevent these “perilous journeys”. “Every death in the Channel is a tragedy and a stark reminder of the dangers posed by criminal gangs exploiting vulnerable people for profit,” the spokesperson added. Two men, one Sudanese and the other Afghan, died last week trying to make a similar crossing — the first reported deaths in the Channel this year. Last year, at least 29 people died, according to an AFP tally based on official French and British sources.
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