A child and two women in their thirties have died after a dinghy carrying 105 people ran into difficulty off the northern French coast, French officials say.
Three people, including a 10-year-old child, died on Monday morning after a small boat carrying more than 100 people got into difficulty while trying to cross the English Channel, according to French authorities.
What happened
The vessel set out from Blériot Plage in Sangatte, near Calais, and issued a distress call soon after. French maritime officials said three passengers were given medical treatment on board. An emergency medical team was flown to the scene by helicopter and confirmed that all three had died.
Those killed were the child and two women, both aged 30.
The remaining 102 passengers were brought back to the port of Calais. Nine of them needed treatment from emergency services when they landed, the Pas-de-Calais prefecture said.
Cause of death under investigation
Early findings point to trampling as the likely cause of the deaths, the prefecture said, though an investigation is under way to establish exactly what happened.
Officials described the vessel as a “taxi boat.” In this method of departure, passengers wade into the water to reach a boat waiting offshore, rather than launching from the beach. Three other people died after similar departures last week, French authorities said.
Smuggling networks blamed
The prefect of Pas-de-Calais, François-Xavier Lauch, put the blame on people-smuggling networks. He said they put vulnerable people, children among them, at serious risk on the crossings.
Monday’s deaths bring this year’s toll to 20 among people attempting the crossing, according to the prefecture. The figure for the same period last year was 21.
A busy and dangerous route
Thousands of people attempt the crossing from France to the UK each year, passing through one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. Attempts typically rise in summer, when the weather is warmer and the seas calmer.
Home Office figures showed 781 people reaching the UK in 10 small boats on Wednesday, the highest single-day total of the year. Two more boats also landed in Kent last week, at Folkestone and Samphire Hoe, without being intercepted.
Policy backdrop
The UK and France agreed a “one in, one out” returns arrangement in July last year, intended to deter crossings. Under it, the UK can return some small-boat arrivals to France, while accepting an equal number of people from France who are considered to have a legitimate claim to enter Britain.
In August, the UK government said it was making progress, though it acknowledged the need to “push further and harder” against what it called a “vile trade.”
So far in 2026, 18,609 people have crossed the Channel in small boats. That is 42% fewer than the 32,188 recorded at the same point in 2025.
