LEAD 2-Five migrants die trying to cross the Channel

(Updated with details from the prefect)

by Yves Herman

WIMEREUX, Pas-de-Calais, April 23 (Reuters) – Five people died on Tuesday after a crowd aboard an overloaded boat carrying migrants wanting to travel illegally to Britain from the northern coast of France, announced the French authorities.

The incident took place off the coast of the town of Wimereux (Pas-de-Calais), said the prefect of Pas-de-Calais, Jacques Billant, during a press briefing. “The boat set sail from the German beach in Wimereux with 112 people on board, it’s unheard of,” he stressed.

The circumstances of the tragedy which occurred at the end of the night are still unclear.

According to the prefect, several people fell into the water following a crowd movement after the boat’s engine stopped a few hundred meters from the coast.

These people were recovered aboard the Abeille Normandie, a national navy tugboat, but others were found on board the boat “inanimate and in great difficulty”, said Jacques Billant.

Among them, five died despite attempts at resuscitation: three men, a woman and a seven-year-old girl, who according to the prefect was “possible” to have been trampled to death.

In addition, four people whose vital prognosis was not in jeopardy were hospitalized among the 47 others brought ashore, while 57 passengers preferred to stay on board and continue their journey after having managed to restart the boat’s engine, he said. detailed the prefect to the press.

The French coast guard previously told Reuters that several attempts to cross the Channel had been reported on Tuesday, notably due to favorable weather conditions. Six of them were prevented and five suspected smugglers arrested, said the prefect.

The tragedy occurred a few hours after the adoption by the British Parliament of the bill allowing the deportation of illegal immigrants to Rwanda.

(Written by Tangi Salaün, with Tassilo Hummel and Inti Landauro in Paris, edited by Blandine Hénault and Bertrand Boucey)