The boats do not just carry men!
Migrant dies trying to cross Channel in small boat
RNLI recovers body from water after multi-agency response rescues 61 people from overcrowded vessel
Tim Sigsworth
19 May 2025 9:38am BST
A migrant has died after a small boat sank while attempting to cross the English Channel overnight.
More than 60 people were on board the “overloaded” vessel when it broke up near Boulogne-sur-Mer, 24-miles south of Calais.
The unconscious woman was spotted by a French navy helicopter and British rescuers from the RNLI then pulled her from the water. But she was pronounced dead on board a French rescue boat shortly after.
She is the 10th migrant to die making the crossing this year.
“The RNLI’s nautical means picked her up and transferred her to the Abeille where she was taken care of and then declared dead by the medical team,” a spokesman for the French Prefecture Maritime said.
Surge in Channel crossings
French authorities said 61 people were rescued in a joint operation by the French coastguard, British Border Force and RNLI.
These included a mother and child who were airlifted to hospital with hypothermia.
RNLI recovers body from water after multi-agency response rescues 61 people from overcrowded vessel
Tim Sigsworth
19 May 2025 9:38am BST
A migrant has died after a small boat sank while attempting to cross the English Channel overnight.
More than 60 people were on board the “overloaded” vessel when it broke up near Boulogne-sur-Mer, 24-miles south of Calais.
The unconscious woman was spotted by a French navy helicopter and British rescuers from the RNLI then pulled her from the water. But she was pronounced dead on board a French rescue boat shortly after.
She is the 10th migrant to die making the crossing this year.
“The RNLI’s nautical means picked her up and transferred her to the Abeille where she was taken care of and then declared dead by the medical team,” a spokesman for the French Prefecture Maritime said.
Surge in Channel crossings
French authorities said 61 people were rescued in a joint operation by the French coastguard, British Border Force and RNLI.
These included a mother and child who were airlifted to hospital with hypothermia.
