Baghdad-INA
Eight migrants have died off the coast of France after their rubber boat capsized while trying to cross the English Channel, bringing the number of migrants who have died crossing the English Channel since the start of 2024 to 46 .
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The governor of the province of Pas-de-Calais (to the north), Jacques Peyenne, said during a press conference that the victims of the recent drowning accident were “adult men”. He added that six survivors were taken to hospital, including a ten-month-old child who was suffering from hypothermia.
He confirmed that the boat was carrying about 60 passengers “from Eritrea, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt and Iran,” adding, “Only one in six was equipped with a life jacket on him.”
He explained that the boat “went aground” in a rocky area and “crashed on the rocks” after leaving a coastal river.
For his part, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told the BBC, “This is terrible. This is the other world.”
“These people were killed because of France and England, which refuse to open the corridors,” said the migrant aid group Utopia 56 on the X platform.
2024-09-17 04:41:15