One migrant has been airlifted to hospital. The vessel began taking on water on Thursday morning.

       The rescue effort, involving French and Belgian air and sea units, is ongoing according to authorities in France as several boats got into difficulty off the coast of Calais.

       At 10am searches began, following reports stating that the vessel was in difficulty, with some people overboard, off the coast of Dunkirk.

       French authorities have reported that one unconscious person is thought to have suffered a cardio-respiratory arrest.

       The person in question was taken aboard the cargo ship's lifeboat, then transferred onto a French Navy vessel before being airlifted to a hospital in Calais by a Belgian helicopter.

       As the migrant boat was sinking, many others from onboard were rescued by nearby fishing boats while some were hoisted aboard the rescue helicopter.

       The French Navy's Flamant patrol boat became the collective point where those recued were gathered, as it headed for the port of Dunkirk.

       The search and rescue operation remains ongoing in the Dover Strait, with a French Navy helicopter scouring the area for those in need.

       Helicopters from the Belgian navy has also joined the search.

       The bid for crossing is considered incredibly dangerous and the journey has claimed many lives in the past.

       The lighter conditions present today mean there has been an influx of crossing attempts, the bad weather from the past few days has deterred attempts until now.

       The vessel sinking today isn't the only one resulting in a casualty in recent days.

       Yesterday saw the French authorities intercepting at least 108 people trying to cross the Channel, with one person having to be airlifted to hospital in Dunkirk.

       According to data from PA news agency, the journey from France by sea has been made by more than 10,000 people including children so far in 2021. These attempts would have been in small vessels such as the one sinking today.

       Records for the number of migrants crossing in one day reached a record on 5 August when 482 crossed the English Channel.

       A total of 21 boats, described as overcrowded and unsafe, reached UK shores, surpassing the previous daily record of 430 migrants who arrived on the Kent coast on 19 July.

       The July crossing included a group of 50 individuals, thought to have left northern France or Belgium via dinghy.

       The group were seen walking ashore after landing near Dungeness in Kent, and some of in its midst celebrated their safe arrival, while others simply sat down on the beach.