44 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleJack GreyBBC News
Getty ImagesA man in his 20s has died following an attempted small boat crossing of the English channel, the French coastguard has reported.
Authorities said his body was found on Sainte-Cecile beach, near the coastal town of Le Touquet, on Saturday morning.
Overnight, a rescue team from France’s Regional Operational Center for Surveillance (CROSS) had been deployed to monitor the boarding migrants onto a “makeshift vessel” at the beach, it said.
It reported that the vessel was stopped from departing by French authorities, and that no one was found in the water following a “thorough sweep”.
The coastguard described the boarding process of the makeshift vessel as “chaotic”, adding that five men were attended to by firefighters at the scene for signs of hypothermia.
A small craft was then deployed which – along with “land-based units” from the local fire and rescue service – conducted “a thorough sweep of the area but found no one in the water”.
“Following the operation, at approximately 08:00 (09:00 GMT) the body of a man in his twenties was discovered on the beach,” the coastguard reported.
It adds an investigation will be opened to “determine the circumstances surrounding the incident”.
In the latest week of data, ending 8 November, the UK government reported that 903 migrants arrived by small boat into the UK in 14 boats.
A further 624 migrants were prevented from making the crossing, the data shows.
Earlier this year, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood ordered an urgent review after two boats carrying 21 people landed in Kent without being intercepted.
“Our improved monitoring has led to uncontrolled crossings becoming incredibly rare, but even one is one too many,” she said at the time.
