A seven-year-old girl drowned after an illegal migrant boat capsized while trying to cross the English Channel from the beaches of France on Sunday, marking the third fatal incident of the year.
The Dunkirk public prosecutor’s office said that a migrant boat carrying sixteen illegals, including ten children between the ages of seven and 13 capsized in the Aa canal while trying to reach the English Channel on Sunday.
The authorities said that the boat “was not sized to support so many people” and that all passengers were thrown into the frigid water after it capsized about 30 kilometres off the coast of France. Tragically a seven-year-old girl drowned to death during the incident, suffering from a cardio-respiratory arrest.
A further ten people were taken to hospital, including six other children, Le Figaro reports.
The prosecutor’s office said that it has opened several police investigations against people smugglers, including for “involuntary manslaughter,” “unintentional injuries,” “criminal association,” and “aiding entry and illegal stay in a gang.”
It is believed that the reason for the boat capsizing so far off the coast was likely a result of migrants moving their launchpoint in order to evade detection from police patrols.
Over 2,500 Migrants Have Drowned or Disappeared in Mediterranean Sea This Year, U.N. Reportshttps://t.co/FyDDF8Hojt
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) October 1, 2023
The death of the seven-year-old girl marks the third deadly incident in the English Channel since the start of the year. Earlier this week, a 22-year-old Turkish national died after falling off his boat off the coast of Calais, while another two migrants went missing.
A suspected people smuggler from the African nation of Eritrea was charged on Saturday in connection to the case, including for involuntary manslaughter. A further two Eritrean nationals were arrested, however, they have since been released.
In January, five migrants, including a 14-year-old from Syria, drowned off the coast of Wimereux in the Calais region after they attempted to swim out to a boat already in the Channel while the water was around 9 degrees Celsius (48 degrees Fahrenheit).
Last year, the brutal people smuggling trade resulted in at least 12 migrants losing their lives while attempting to reach the United Kingdom, with 29,437 illegals successfully reaching British shores.
Report: Illegal Boat Migrants Sign Slave Labour ‘Pact’ with Traffickers to Reach UK https://t.co/XwrAXiDP8m
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) September 21, 2020
