8 migrants perish in the Channel, French police say

Eight people lost their lives early Sunday in the English Channel as they tried to reach England from France, French authorities said, in the second such tragedy in the span of less than two weeks. 

The French police said that the victims’ vessel, which had more than 50 people on board when it set off from Wimereux in Pas-de-Calais, northern France, started to sink almost immediately after departure. 

The French coast guard said assistance was offered to 53 people, while eight had already died. The victims were all adult men from Eritrea, Sudan, Afghanistan, Syria, Egypt and Iran, it said.

The Boulogne-sur-Mer public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation. 

Attempts by migrants to reach the British coast by means of unadapted and overcrowded boats have increased in the last two days as a result of smoother weather, maritime authorities said, pointing out that 200 people were rescued in only 24 hours between Friday and Saturday. 

There have been more than 40 fatalities of migrants in the Channel since the start of the year.

The tragedy comes only a couple of weeks after 12 migrants, including six children and a pregnant woman, died off the French coast, in what is considered the deadliest disaster in the Channel this year.