At least 12 people have died and dozens have been rescued after their boat capsized while trying to cross the English Channel.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmenin said 12 people had been killed and rescue operations were underway Tuesday to find two people still missing.
He said he would go to the site in the afternoon, near the city of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
“Unfortunately, the bottom of the boat split,” said Olivier Barberin, mayor of Le Portel near Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Etienne Baggio, a spokesman for the French maritime prefecture, said rescuers had pulled 65 people out of the water.
Baggio described it as the worst migrant boat disaster in the English Channel this year. Many on board did not have life vests, he said. It was not immediately clear how the boat came to be uncovered or what type of boat it was. Some attempt the crossing in rubber dinghies.
The maritime prefecture said the boat ran into trouble between Gris-Nez Point and Boulogne-sur-Mer and the port of Calais in the far north.
Sea temperatures in northern France were around 20 °C (68 °F).
United Kingdom Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described the death as “appalling and very tragic”.
In a statement, Cooper criticized “the gangs behind this horrific and cruel trade in human life”, adding that they “don’t care about anything but the profits they make”.
At least 30 are refugees and migrants Died or missing While trying to get to the UK this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.
At least 2,109 people have attempted to cross the English Channel in small boats in the past seven days, according to UK Home Office data updated on Tuesday.
Data includes people found in the channel or on arrival.
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