Woman and teenage girl die while trying to cross Channel in small boat | News UK

Two women have died while attempting to cross the English Channel in a dinghy.

Some 82 people left on a boat from Neufchatel-Hardelot in the Pas-de-Calais at 1.30am today.

The boat drifted out to sea after encountering a technical issue, French authorities confirmed.

The women from Sudan, who French charity Utopia 56 reported were a 16-year-old girl and a 20-year-old adult, were found dead on the boat.

Another three migrants are in a state of ‘absolute emergency’ after suffering from burns from fuel and sea water.

A total of 14 are in ‘relative emergency’, including five who have been taken to hospital.

French coastal patrol forces returned the migrants to Boulogne-sur-Mer by 4am.

Christophe Marx, the secretary-general of Pas-de-Calais, said an investigation had been opened into the incident.

A statement from French police said: ‘All state services were mobilised to respond to this incident, with the involvement of the national gendarmerie, border police, aerial resources — including drones — the departmental fire and rescue service, as well as volunteers from Civil Protection, and resources co-ordinated by CROSS Gris-Nez under the authority of the Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea.

‘Smuggling networks, driven by criminal motives and a total disregard for human life, continue to endanger vulnerable people by organising crossings in makeshift boats.

‘The state maintains a firm response to these actions and, in co-ordination with the judicial authorities, continues its efforts to combat these networks.’

It comes amid a sharp downward trend in the number of small boat crossings.

Home Office figures show a total of 6,796 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year, including 325 on Saturday.

This is 41 per cent down on the figure by this time last year, when 11,516 had made the journey, and 8,278 in 2024.

Four people were rescued by French coastguards on two separate boats before they entered British waters on Saturday.

The first dinghy was spotted in Merlimont beach, while the second was reported in Onival beach.

The Refugee Council said the latest crossings underlined the need for safe and legal routes for migrants to come to the UK.

Executive director Imran Hussain said: ‘We know that it is desperation that drives refugees fleeing devastating war and brutal regimes into small boats, which is why the lack of safe and legal routes to the UK is a problem that needs fixing.

‘The Government has said Sudan is the greatest humanitarian crisis facing the world, but a Sudanese refugee has no safe route to the UK, even if it is to join up with their family.’

Earlier this month two men and two women drowned while trying to make the dangerous crossing.

Another two migrants were also killed while crossing on April 1.

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