Nearly 160 migrants rescued after boat catches fire during Channel crossing
A small boat caught fire on the boundary between French and British waters, forcing its occupants to jump overboard, but no casualties were reported.
On Tuesday morning, a fire erupted on a small boat attempting to cross the English Channel, prompting the evacuation of 157 migrants, according to French and British authorities. This incident marks one of the largest rescue operations since records began in 2018. The boat originated from the coastal village of Veules-les-Roses in Normandy, France, on Monday.
French maritime authorities reported that the average number of individuals packed onto these small vessels has surged from 26 in 2021 to 65 since the start of the year. The crisis has intensified, with recent witnesses in France describing boats twelve meters long, significantly larger than the usual eight to ten meters. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution was alerted at 6 a.m. and promptly launched a lifeboat to the scene.
In the previous year, 41,000 migrants landed on England's southern coast, making it the second-highest annual figure since 2018. To date in 2022, 14 lives have been lost during the perilous journey across the Channel, as per official French and British records. In the preceding year, 29 migrants tragically perished in the Channel, based on a similar tally by AFP.
Written by urgent.news from Free Malaysia Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
