A migrant airlifted from a sinking boat in the Channel with 40 people on board has died.

       The migrant, who was rescued close to the French coast, is understood to have died from a heart attack brought on as he made the perilous crossing.

       He is the first known death since last October, when an Iranian family of five including a 15-month-old boy died when their boat capsized off the French coast.

       The French prosecutor on Thursday night opened an investigation into potential manslaughter charges against the people smugglers.

       It came as more than 100 migrants reached the UK on Thursday, including three boats that made it to Kent beaches. The French also rescued or intercepted more than 100 migrants before they made it to UK waters.

       Nearly 11,000 migrants have crossed the Channel this year, surpassing the 8,700 total for the whole of 2020.

       Dan O’Mahoney, the Clandestine Channel Threat Commander, said: “Today someone sadly died following an incident in French waters during an attempt to cross the Channel. This loss of life is a tragedy and we are providing support to our French counterparts, who are leading the response.

       “This underlines the terrible dangers of small boat crossings and why we must work together with the French to prevent callous criminals exploiting vulnerable people.”

       Searches started at about 10am on Thursday after a cargo ship reported that a boat carrying around 40 people was in difficulty, with some people overboard, off the coast of Dunkirk.

       An unconscious person taken aboard the cargo ship’s lifeboat and transferred to a French navy vessel was later airlifted to hospital in Calais. He was believed to have suffered cardio-respiratory arrest and was evacuated aboard a Belgian Air Force helicopter.

       Several others were also hoisted aboard the helicopter as the migrant boat was sinking, while more were rescued by nearby fishing boats. They were all transferred to the French navy’s Flamant patrol boat, which headed for the port of Dunkirk.

       Search-and-rescue operations remained under way on Thursday evening in the Dover Strait, with a French Navy helicopter continuing to scour the area.

       The last known deaths were Rasoul Iran-Nejad, his wife Shiva Mohammad Panahi, and their three children, whose boat capsized on Oct 27 2020. Their 15-month-old son, Artin, was reported missing but it was not until June this year that police confirmed a body found on the Norwegian coast was his.

       There were reports on Thursday of migrant boats reaching Hythe beach in Kent, where about 25 were said to have landed, Ramsgate, where 30 came ashore, and Dungeness, where an inflatable dinghy was found. Border Force also brought ashore another 100 rescued in UK waters, said eyewitnesses.

       Three cases of Covid were also confirmed at Napier Barracks in Kent, where some of the migrants are being housed. Refugee Action described the latest infections as “shameful, predictable and avoidable”.