Migrant dies as small boat sinks crossing English Channel

A person has died after a small “overloaded” boat sank while attempting to cross the English Channel, French authorities have said.

A total of 62 people were rescued from the water after the boat broke up overnight on Sunday to Monday, the Maritime Prefect of the Channel and the North Sea said.

A French Navy helicopter helping with the search spotted an unconscious person in the water, who was subsequently declared dead by the medical team on board a French assistance and rescue intervention tug, French authorities said.

A mother and her baby were taken to hospital in Boulogne-sur-Mer, in France, with hypothermia.

The French tug recovered 50 people, the RNLI recovered two people and the Border Force Ranger recovered nine people.

The other rescued people were taken to Boulogne-sur-Mer quay and taken care of by the land rescue services.

A migrant also died trying to cross the Channel in April.

As of last month, more than 9,000 people had crossed the English Channel on small boats in 2025.

This was 42% higher than at the same point in 2024, when the total stood at 6,265, and 81% higher than at the same stage in 2023, when the total was 4,899.

Home Office figures show more people arrived in small boats between January and April 2025 than in the same four-month period in any year since data on Channel crossings began in 2018.

The figures come as the government has vowed to crack down on people-smuggling across the Channel.