At least five migrants have died trying to cross the English Channel, according to French local media reports.
It is understood a small boat heading for the Kent coast got into trouble while launching from a beach near Wimereux at around 2am this morning (January 14).
French paper La Voix du Nord said 72 people, including 10 children, were rescued and taken to Calais while one person was taken to a hospital in Boulogne.
It is understood four people have died overnight and another was found dead today.
The paper said the migrants got into difficulty while trying to board the boat in darkness and cold temperatures.
A Navy helicopter, police officers and 50 firefighters were involved in the rescue operation.
The UK Coastguard said it could not comment because the incident took place in French territorial waters.
Speaking to KentOnline, Kay Marsh from refugee charity Samphire, based in Dover, said the news is “devastating.”
She added: “It is just awful. There was not even coastguard involvement because it happened so close to the beach.
“It goes to show when it is so cold and so dark in a place like that even before you have left it is dangerous.
“You do not even have to be in the middle of the Channel for it to be a risk to life.
“It is terrifying to think about it, that water would have been absolutely freezing. It is really scary.”
The news comes after the first migrants crossing the English Channel of the year landed in Dover yesterday (January 13).
A group of people believed to be migrants were seen being brought onto shore in a Border Force vessel.
Arrivals have not been recorded since December 16, according to Home Office figures, with poor weather conditions potentially contributing to the lack of activity at sea.
This was the longest gap in small boat arrivals for five years.
The provisional annual total for 2023, has been recorded as 29,437, 36% lower than the record 45,774 crossings for 2022.
It is still the second highest annual total on record, above the figure for 2021 (28,526).
MP for Dover and Deal Natalie Elphicke posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Very sad to hear four people have died when an unseaworthy and dangerously overloaded small boat capsized in French waters.
“This underlines the need for a new UK/France Cross-Channel agreement to stop small boats leaving the French coast, end these dangerous journeys and save lives.”
