Migrant dies in Channel as arrivals believed to have hit 30,000 for year so far

Another migrant has died while trying to cross the English Channel as 30,000 are believed to have arrived in the UK after making the journey so far this year.

Around 15 people were rescued after they fell into the sea while trying to join a boat off the coast in the Calais region, between Hardelot and Equihen-Plage, early on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the French coastguard said, while witnesses described seeing a baby in the water.

A man was declared dead when he was brought ashore in the rescue operation by a French navy helicopter and lifeboat, while others were brought to the beach and on to hospital.

Assistance operations are still under way, the coastguard added.

The man who died was believed to be travelling with friends and is understood to be a father, according to organisation Utopia 56, which supports displaced and homeless migrants at the border in France.

Angele Vettorello, a co-ordinator from the group, told the PA news agency she was at the scene at around 8.30am on Wednesday, where she saw men, women and children, the youngest being a baby, in the water, trying to swim back to shore against a current.

Many were treated on the beach with various degrees of hypothermia.

She said around 100 people were on the beach when a 'taxi boat' arrived near the shore – with only the driver and a few others – to pick up the waiting migrants.

"Only half of the group could get inside the boat, and the rest were just staying in the water," she said.

"At some point the boat left, people tried to go back to the shore, the sea was coming up ... police went into the water to try and help the people".

She also said the emergency service response was a "real mess" with dry clothes arriving around two and a half hours after the rescue.

The latest death brings the number of people who have died while attempting the journey so far this year to 50, just days after a man died when a boat deflated in the Channel on Sunday.

Refugee charities have said deaths have become "appallingly regular" and they should not be normalised or accepted.

Reacting to the death on Wednesday, Amnesty International UK's refugee and migrant rights director Steve Valdez-Symonds said: "This is the deadliest year on record for people crossing the Channel and unless the Government establishes some safe alternative, the awful prospect is that the death toll will simply keep rising."

A number of people wearing life jackets were brought ashore in Dover, Kent, by Border Force early on Wednesday, as crossings continued amid fair and smooth conditions at sea.

No crossings took place on Monday or Tuesday.

As of Sunday, 29,867 people had made the journey from France this year, according to provisional Home Office figures.

This is 12% higher than at the same point in 2023 (26,605) and 22% lower than in 2022 (38,435).

Witnesses told PA two Border Force vessels arrived on Wednesday morning carrying up to around 100 people between them.

More boats are continuing to arrive, indicating the total figure is likely to have surpassed 30,000.

The number of arrivals recorded will be confirmed in Government figures being published on Thursday.

A Home Office spokesman said: "We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

"The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay.

"We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice."