Two women have died during an attempt to cross the Channel, French authorities have said.
Officials said the two migrants died on Saturday morning while trying to travel from France to the UK on a makeshift boat.
Rescuers found the women in cardiac arrest but couldn’t save them, the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais region, in northern France, said in a statement.
A couple with their child were also transported to a hospital in Boulogne, the French authority said.
The incident happened off the coast of the town of Neuchâtel-Hardelot, beaches between Boulogne and Le Touquet.
The French media have reported that around 60 people were rescued from the overnight incident.
According to the prefecture, 17 migrants have died since the beginning of the year while attempting to reach the UK on board small boats from the coast of the Pas-de-Calais region.
The number of people arriving in the UK through channel crossings is at a record for this point in the year since data was first reported in 2018.
Last year, 50 people died while trying to cross the Channel, according to incidents recorded by the French coastguard.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has also reported several more migrant deaths believed to be linked to crossing attempts in 2024 and this year.
Earlier this week, a family of three, including a small child, became the first people sent to the UK by France under an agreement in which Britain returns migrants and France sends vetted asylum-seekers.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We can confirm there has been a tragic incident involving a small boat that had attempted to cross the Channel which has resulted in the loss of two lives.
“This latest tragedy underlines the terrible dangers of small boat crossings, and we continue to do everything we can to prevent callous criminals exploiting vulnerable people. Our thoughts are with those affected.”
