Newborn baby dies when illegal boat sinks

by time news

2024-10-18 08:04:00

A tragedy at sea. A newborn baby died on Thursday evening off the coast of Wissant (Pas-de-Calais) when a boat overloaded with people trying to reach England clandestinely sank, the Channel and North Sea maritime prefecture told AFP . Friday.

During a recovery operation for migrants who fell into the water, “sixty-five people were recovered safe and sound” but, “after a search, a newborn was found unconscious in the water and unfortunately declared deceased”, specifies the prefecture maritime.

52 deaths in 2024

This death brings to at least 52 the number of people who will die in attempted crossings in 2024, a record since the start in 2018 of the phenomenon of small boats, these improvised boats used by migrants to try to reach England.

These victims regularly include children. On September 3, half of the twelve victims of the worst shipwreck of the year, which caused 12 deaths, were minors. On October 5, a two-year-old boy was crushed to death in a boat carrying nearly 90 people and its engine failed.

The English Channel, a busy and dangerous area

The conditions for crossing the English Channel, “one of the busiest areas in the world” according to the maritime prefecture, are particularly dangerous, on overloaded boats, on board which few passengers are equipped with life jackets.

Boats arriving on British shores since January 1 have an average of 53 passengers each, compared to just 13 in 2020, according to official data from British authorities. Again according to this data, since the beginning of the year over 26,000 migrants have arrived in England after crossing the Channel.

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