Two Migrants Dead, Three Critically Burned as Overcrowded Boat Runs Aground off Northern France

Paris: Two women are dead and 16 others injured, three of them critically, after an overcrowded migrant vessel lost engine power and ran aground on a beach near Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France overnight, in what marks the third fatal English Channel crossing incident in just over a month.

The boat, carrying 82 people, departed from Hardelot beach — a few kilometres south of the port — but the engine failed shortly after setting out, causing it to drift. A French maritime gendarmerie vessel intercepted and pulled 17 people to safety, bringing them ashore at Boulogne-sur-Mer. The remaining 65 passengers were still on board when the makeshift craft beached itself.

Christophe Marx, secretary-general of the Pas-de-Calais prefecture, told reporters that the two women — believed to be Sudanese nationals in their 20s — most likely died from suffocation. "They are believed to have been crushed or asphyxiated, as unfortunately often happens on boats where too many people are packed in," he said. Three passengers suffered serious burns from fuel that had pooled at the bottom of the vessel. An investigation is underway.

The tragedy is the third of its kind since late March. Last month, four people died attempting to board an inflatable boat off the northern French coast, while another two perished in a separate incident near Calais the week before.

The deaths come weeks after Britain and France signed a new multimillion-euro bilateral deal aimed at curbing Channel crossings through enhanced police patrols and surveillance. More than 6,000 migrants have reached the UK via the Channel so far this year — a 36 per cent drop from the same period last year. But the human cost of the crossings continues to mount. Migrant aid group Utopia 56 said at least 172 people have died at the French-UK border over the past three years, including 123 at sea.