Two dead as Channel crossing attempt fails off northern France

Two people were killed Saturday morning after a makeshift boat carrying about 100 migrants attempting to cross the English Channel ran into trouble off the coast of northern France, authorities said. The incident occurred overnight south of the beaches of Neufchâtel-Hardelot in the Pas-de-Calais region.

Isabelle Fradin-Thirode, a French official, told AFP that sixty people were rescued and are being cared for by civil protection, and a couple with their child suffering moderate hypothermia were rushed to a hospital in Boulogne.

In all, sixty people were pulled from the water or unable to continue the crossing and were treated by rescue services, with the two deaths confirmed as part of the same incident. The authorities' account places the event in the broader, ongoing pattern of dangerous small-boat crossings from France to the United Kingdom.

So far this year, at least 25 people have died attempting the crossing in small boats. Earlier this month, three people died off Calais in what authorities said was likely a crush at the bottom of a packed boat. Last year, 50 people died in Channel crossings, according to incidents recorded by the French coastguard.

Beyond fatalities, the numbers of people crossing remain high. More than 30,000 people have reached the UK in small boats so far in 2025, and more than 50,000 have crossed since Labour came to power in July 2024.

The episode comes as France and the United Kingdom have pressed ahead with a bilateral returns deal designed to deter crossings. The arrangement, described by officials as a deterrent, would see for every migrant the UK returns to France, another migrant with a strong asylum case admitted to Britain in the reverse direction.

British political leaders have reacted to the ongoing crossings. Sir Keir Starmer has described the crossings as 'totally unacceptable,' while Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the 'vile' people-smugglers behind them are 'wreaking havoc on our borders.'