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Migrant dies after being airlifted from sinking boat carrying 40 people in English Channel

2021-08-13 00:00:00.0 太阳报-英国新闻原网页

A MIGRANT airlifted to hospital from the English Channel after a boat carrying around 40 people began to sink has died.

The boat was believed to have begun taking on water as it headed for the UK on Thursday morning.

The boat is thought to have started taking on water as it headed to the UK (file photo) Credit: Reuters 3

UK Border Force workers help migrants to safety in Dover in July this year (file photo) Credit: Getty

The rescue operation, involving French and Belgian air and sea units, is ongoing, authorities in France say.

The unconscious person was taken aboard the cargo ship's lifeboat and transferred onto a French Navy vessel was later airlifted to hospital in Calais.

He is believed to have suffered cardiorespiratory arrest and was evacuated aboard a Belgian Air Force helicopter, French authorities say.

The Dunkirk prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into the migrant's death.

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

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 onto the French Navy's Flamant patrol boat, which headed for the port of Dunkirk.

SEARCH & RESCUE OPERATION UNDERWAY

Search and rescue operations remain underway in the Dover Strait, with a French Navy helicopter continuing to scour the area.

Others are thought to have succeeded in reaching British shores, with reports of a beach landing in Kent.

Following days of bad weather in the Dover Strait, lighter conditions on Thursday have seen a flurry of crossing attempts.

Meanwhile, around 50 migrants arrived at Dover today on a Border Force ship, including children too young to walk.

Border Force patrol boat, Vigilant, docked at Dover Port with the migrants onboard at around 1pm today.

A crying toddler, wearing a knitted hat with earflaps, was carried from the ship by an immigrant enforcement official.

Another small child wearing a grey jumper and jogging bottoms was picked up by a member of UK Border Force staff and taken off the ship.

One man wearing a beige baseball cap and cream cargo shorts was directed off the boat, wrapped in a sky-blue blanket.

DANGEROUS JOURNEY

The migrants, who were mainly men of Middle Eastern appearance wearing face masks, could be seen huddled on the port side of the ship, waiting to disembark.

Most were wearing jeans, coats and hoodies with the hoods up.

The latest bids to reach the UK come after French authorities intercepted at least 108 people trying to cross the Channel on Wednesday, with one person having to be airlifted to hospital in Dunkirk.

The dangerous sea journey from France - made by more than 10,000 people including children so far in 2021 - has claimed many lives in the past.

Among them were Rasoul Iran-Nejad and his wife Shiva Mohammad Panahi, who died along with their three children when their boat capsized on October 27, 2020.