Tragedy in English Channel as at least eight migrants are killed in crossing disaster… but MORE boats set off as ‘bodies are being brought up the ramp’

At least eight UK-bound migrants drowned today in the latest small boat disaster in the English Channel.

The French emergency services received a Mayday from a dinghy that got into difficulty off the coast at Ambleteuse, near Calais, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

‘Several migrants lost their lives,’ said Jacques Billant, the Pas de Calais prefect, putting the provisional death toll at eight.

‘A zodiac craft carrying around 50 people ran aground,’ Mr Billant said, adding that the eight unidentified migrants were declared dead at the scene.

It comes as French authorities rescued some 200 people off the coast of Calais over a 24-hour period between Friday and Saturday night. 

The disaster at Ambleteuse took place just after 1am and – within six hours – another group of migrants were setting off in exactly the same location. 

Eight migrants have died after an English Channel crossing attempt ended in disaster. (File image of a migrant boat being escorted by French officials earlier this month)

It comes as French authorities rescued some 200 people off the coast of Calais over a 24-hour period between Friday and Saturday night. (File image of migrants being brought to Dover as they attempted to reach the UK earlier this month)

An emergency worker said: ‘Bodies were being taken up on to a ramp at Ambleteuse, yet, by 7am, a second boat departure took place there too.

‘Boats have been setting off in the area throughout the weekend – there have been non-stop rescues.’

A spokesman for the Regional Operational Centre for Surveillance and Rescue at Cap Gris-Nez confirmed that ‘at least 18 attempts’ to reach Britain were made by different boats on Saturday.

Relatively calm conditions brought out the boats, all of them thought to have been organised by people smugglers charging around £1000-a-head for a passage to Britain.

French prosecutors were set start a criminal investigation into the Ambleteuse sinking, as police searched for the smugglers involved.

Between Friday and Saturday, one boat carrying migrants was located off the coast of Le Portel, with 55 rescued. Elsewhere, 61 migrants were saved off the coast of La Becque d’Hardelot, 48 were rescued near a lighthouse, and 36 others were recovered. 

All of those rescued were taken back to land, French authorities said, adding that they monitored 18 attempts to launch boats across the Channel on Saturday.

The tragedy comes less than two weeks after the deaths of at least 12 people, including a pregnant woman and six children, when their flimsy dinghy broke up in the sea nearby.

Despite the disaster, Sir Keir Starmer last week insisted his Government was ‘making progress’ in stopping boats.

The Prime Minister said he was ‘convinced’ Labour can succeed in ‘taking down the gangs’ behind the people-smuggling trade, as he attended a summit with law enforcement agencies and security services on the issue. 

He said he was working closely with the leaders of Germany and France, but was not interested in a Europe-wide returns deal for failed asylum seekers.

But shadow home secretary James Cleverly said: ‘Even 12 tragic deaths cannot wake Labour up to the need for an actual plan to put a stop to the small boats crossing the Channel.’ 

Visiting the National Crime Agency with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on September 6, Sir Keir was asked how he could claim there is encouraging progress given the latest figures.

The tragedy comes less than two weeks after the deaths of at least 12 people, including a pregnant woman and six children, when their flimsy dinghy broke up in the sea nearby. Pictured: Emergency services at the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais

He told the BBC: ‘We’ve already managed to return over 3,000 people who are not entitled to be here.

‘That includes the single biggest dedicated flight that we’ve ever had.

‘So we are making progress. I acknowledge more needs to be done.

‘We’ve got to take down the gangs running this vile trade of putting people into boats in the first place.

‘That’s why I’m here today at the National Crime Agency with an operational summit to absolutely drive forward our work there.

‘I’m determined that we’re going to reclaim control of our borders, something the last government lost control of.’

Sir Keir has also revealed that he will examine Italy’s offshore processing plan for asylum-seekers.

The Prime Minister said he hopes to discuss his counterpart Giorgia Meloni’s ‘strong ideas’ on the crucial topic of illegal immigration when he visits her in Rome on Monday.

It comes as Sir Keir Starmer revealed plans to discuss illegal immigration plans with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni (pictured together at Blenheim Palace in July)

It will be the third bilateral meeting between the two leaders in as many months, after they met at the NATO summit in Washington just after the election then again at Blenheim Palace when Britain hosted the European Political Community.

Speaking to reporters on his trip to the White House, Sir Keir said: ‘I’ve already had a preliminary discussion with Giorgia Meloni about this, about how we can work together on irregular migration.

‘She has of course got some strong ideas and I hope to discuss those with her.

‘She and I have already discussed how we can improve joint operations, so that is something we will discuss.’

The latest eight deaths mean at least 45 people have died in Channel crossings so far this year, compared with 12 for the whole of 2023.

The worst previous incident was in November 2021 when 27 people died after their inflatable dinghy capsized.