Two die in English Channel migrant crossing

Two men died off the French coast overnight while attempting to cross the Channel to Britain, while two women were hospitalised with burns, French authorities said on Monday.

The latest Channel tragedy occurred off the coast of the northern town of Berck late Sunday. Two women suffering burns over large areas of their bodies were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.

La Voix du Nord, a regional daily newspaper, reported that the burns were caused by a chemical reaction that occurs when gasoline mixes with seawater.

According to the report, a boat carrying 120 people set off on Sunday night, leaving about 20 migrants stranded in the water after they were unable to board.

Rescuers recovered two men who were in cardiac arrest and two Somali women, aged 20 and 26, who were injured, La Voix du Nord said.

Prosecutors have launched an investigation into the deaths.

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Three people, including a 10-year-old child, died during another attempted crossing last week.

There have now been at least 24 migrant deaths at the Franco-British maritime border since the start of the year, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.

France has long been a staging post for asylum seekers without visas hoping to cross the sea to Britain.

They pay smugglers thousands of dollars to board unstable and often overcrowded rubber dinghies to make the hazardous journey across one of the world’s busiest shipping routes.

AFP

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