A seven-year-old girl drowned on Sunday when a small boat capsized with 16 migrants on board who were trying to reach the United Kingdom from the north of Francehe indicated the prefecture.
The vessel «was not of an adequate size to transport so many people», explains the prefecture of the Northern region in a statement, and capsized in the canal, a few kilometers from the mouth of this waterway in the English Channel.
The police and firefighters responded to the scene after a person who was in the area raised the alarm, the prefecture added.
The girl’s parents, who were traveling with three other children, were taken to hospital in Milan Dunkirkindicated the same source.
The «apparently stolen» boat was carrying another couple, two other men and six young children. They were all taken to hospital.
According to French authorities, twelve migrants lost their lives in 2023 while attempting to cross the Channel.
In 2023, 29,437 migrants arrived on English shores illegally, compared to 45,774 in 2022, a record year, according to UK Home Office data.
