Politics1 min read

Body found on French beach after attempted Channel crossing

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

France's Regional Operational Center for Surveillance deployed teams overnight to monitor migrants boarding an unseaworthy craft near Le Touquet, ultimately preventing the vessel from putting to sea. Firefighters treated five survivors for hypothermia, but an initial water search failed to locate anyone in the sea prior to the victim's recovery on Saturday morning. The fatality comes amid persistent crossings, with recent UK government figures revealing that 903 migrants reached British shores aboard 14 boats in a single week.

Key points

  • French emergency responders successfully intervened to block the makeshift vessel from la…: French emergency responders successfully intervened to block the makeshift vessel from launching into the English Channel.
  • An initial search by land and sea rescue units found nobody in the water before the fatal…: An initial search by land and sea rescue units found nobody in the water before the fatal discovery.
  • Recent unauthorized arrivals prompted Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to request an urgent…: Recent unauthorized arrivals prompted Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to request an urgent review when two boats reached Kent undetected.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

- Published

A 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".

Migrants using longer, more dangerous routes across Channel

- Published29 September

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…

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