Migrants rescued from second sinking boat on same night four died in Channel

UK police have been trying to identify four people who died in the first incident

Inflatable craft and boat engines used by migrants to cross the English Channel. Getty

Migrants were rescued from a second sinking boat on the same night that four died in the English Channel, government officials said on Friday.

In the second incident, Border Force officers rescued 50 people, five of whom were pulled from the freezing water after their boat started to sink.

Kent Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the first incident on Wednesday, in which four migrants died and 39 were rescued from a capsized dinghy.

Police have been trying to identify the people who died and track down their relatives, the Kent force said.

Migrants on board the dinghy told fishermen they had paid £5,000 each to people smugglers to make the journey from France to the UK, according to media reports.

This week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced more funding for the National Crime Agency to tackle organised immigration crime in Europe.

“This incident, tragically, highlights the dangers of these crossings, a high percentage of which are facilitated by organised criminal networks,” said the agency's director general Graeme Biggar.

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  A life boat returns to the Port of Dover in England amid a rescue operation of a missing migrant boat. Reuters

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  Police and coastguard officers gather at Dover. People are feared to have died after a small boat carrying migrants got into difficulty in the English Channel. Reuters

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  Air Ambulance personnel arrive in Dover. EPA

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  Forensic tents at the lifeboat rescue station are set up at the port. AP

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  Ambulances at the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) station in Dover. PA

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  The RNLI station being readied to receive boats returning from the incident in the English Channel. PA

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  An ambulance arrives at the port. PA

“They treat people as a commodity to be profited from and think nothing of putting them in incredibly dangerous situations. Working with our partners on both sides of the Channel, we are determined to find those responsible and bring them to justice.”

The agency is also involved in a French investigation into the deaths of at least 27 migrants in the Channel last year.

On Friday, Maj Gen Duncan Capps, a soon-to-be retired army officer, was named to lead a new unit being launched next year to crack down on crossings.

Maj Gen Capps, a former head of the army training college at Sandhurst, will take on the role from Daniel O'Mahoney.

Considered by officials to be an extremely experienced leader, Maj Gen Capps will head up the “small boats operational command” announced by Mr Sunak.

The “permanent, unified” unit will bring together military and civilian staff alongside the agency to co-ordinate “intelligence, interception, processing and enforcement”, Mr Sunak said.

There has been a sharp rise in refugees and asylum seekers arriving in the UK via the English Channel, crossing busy sea lanes in often unseaworthy boats.

More than 40,000 people — a new high — have arrived in England this year.

The number of crossings has increased exponentially each year. In 2021, 28,561 were detected making the journey, while in 2018, only 299 were recorded.

The vast majority of small boats crossing the Channel from northern France are intercepted by the British coastguard. Occupants are brought on board rescue vessels and taken to shore to be registered.