November 29, 2022, 9:50 PM
November 29, 2022, 9:50 PM
Some 240 migrants were rescued at sea and sent to the French coast between Monday and Tuesday in various operations, when they tried to reach England in makeshift boatsannounced the maritime prefecture.
A lifeboat initially rescued 23 people Monday night off the coast of Calais, the Prefecture of English Channel and the North Sea (Premar) said in a statement.
Later, “early in the morning”, a French navy patrol boat assisted 61 people in difficulty off the coast of Leffrinckoucke before recovering, in the same sector, “34 castaways” from another vessel, Premar added.
They were all transferred to the port of Calais, where they were left in the care of the fire brigade and the border police.
Late on Tuesday morning, a patrol boat assisted another vessel in distress off Calais and found “all occupants in the sea, clinging to the sinking vessel”Premar said.
The crew recovered 61 people, including “several in a state of hypothermia“. The castaways were left in the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer and made available to rescuers.
A last operation made it possible to recover another 61 people off the coast of Calais and transferred to Dunkirk.
The sea route between France and England is one of the busiest in the world, “with more than 400 commercial ships passing through each day and often difficult weather conditions,” according to the maritime prefecture.
However, more and more migrants are trying to cross it. This year more than 40,000 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel in small boats, a record number.
On November 24, 2021, 27 migrants were found dead in the wreck of their boat off the coast of Calaisin the worst tragedy recorded in La Mancha.
