English Channel: One dead after small boat sinks in attempted crossing

A migrant has died after trying to cross the English Channel in a small boat on Friday evening, the French coastguard has said.

A further 69 were rescued after the boat sank off the coast of Calais. Only half of those onboard were found to be wearing lifejackets.

Two people were unconscious when brought on to a rescue vessel, the coastguard said – one of whom was rescusitated by medics and the other was later pronounced dead in hospital.

The other migrants onboard were returned to Calais.

Several attempted crossings were reported to the Gris-Nez surveillance and rescue centre on Friday night, a statement on the incident said.

A French vessel began monitoring the small boat after it left Calais. The boat started to take on water towards the end of the night, the coastguard said.

It added that rescue crews “immediately” went to the aid of the small boat.

The unconscious person who could not be resuscitated by medics was evacuated using a Belgian sea rescue helicopter to a hospital in Marck-en-Calais, where they were pronounced dead.

The coastguard said a French Navy Dauphin helicopter was monitoring the area where the boat sank “to confirm the successful recovery of all the castaways”.

It warned that the part of the Channel was “a particularly dangerous sector, especially in the middle of winter for precarious and overloaded boats”, as it was a busy shipping lane with difficult weather conditions.

Other “life-saving resources” have been deployed in the area due to the numerous reports of attempted crossings on Friday, the coastguard said.

As of 10 February, 1,554 people had crossed the English Channel since the start of 2025.

In 2024 as a whole, 36,816 arrived in the UK on small boats. It was also the deadliest year on record for migrant crossings of the English Channel, according to the United Nations’ migration agency.