Four Migrants Die as Attempted Channel Crossing from France Turns Deadly

At least four migrants have died while attempting to board a small boat for a Channel crossing from northern France to the United Kingdom, French officials said, as rescue teams pulled dozens of others from the water.

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Authorities in the Pas-de-Calais region reported that two men and two women died during the incident on Thursday morning. Emergency services rescued 38 other people, including one person who required urgent medical treatment.

The operation was still underway at Equihen Beach when regional prefect François-Xavier Lauch confirmed the deaths.

Migrants Swept Away by Currents

Lauch said the migrants were trying to board a small motorised inflatable vessel when they were caught in strong currents.

The boats, often referred to by authorities as “taxi boats”, are used by people-smuggling networks to collect migrants from long stretches of coastline in northern France. These vessels typically depart from hidden launch points and then pick up groups of migrants waiting along beaches before beginning the crossing.

Officials said several people were carried away by the currents while attempting to reach the boat from the shore.

Equihen Beach, where the incident occurred, is a long stretch of sand backed by dunes and woodland. Migrants attempting to cross the Channel often shelter there for days while waiting for favourable weather and sea conditions.

Police patrol the area, sometimes using off-road vehicles and monitoring the coastline from the remains of World War Two-era bunkers. However, the length of the beach makes it difficult to prevent every attempted departure.

Rising Number of Crossings and Rescues

The incident comes amid a rise in attempted Channel crossings in recent days.

French maritime authorities said on Wednesday that 102 people were rescued during two separate operations involving migrants trying to reach the UK by boat.

Last week, two migrants died in another incident off the coast north of Calais.

Smugglers increasingly rely on “taxi boats”, which differ from small inflatable vessels that migrants launch themselves. Instead, these boats set out with few or no passengers and then collect migrants at predetermined points along the coast.

Dangerous Conditions During Boarding

Scenes along the northern French coast often involve migrants entering the sea to reach waiting vessels. Adults frequently carry children in their arms or on their shoulders as they wade toward the boats anchored offshore.

Depending on tides and weather conditions, migrants sometimes have to move far into the water — in some cases up to chest height — before reaching the vessels. This increases the risk of losing balance, being caught by strong currents, or moving into water that is too deep.

Campaign groups advocating for migrant rights say tougher measures by French police to stop departures from beaches may be contributing to the growing use of taxi boats. Officers have at times used knives to puncture inflatable boats to prevent them from being used.

Activists argue that such measures encourage smugglers to deploy offshore pickup vessels instead, a method they say can increase the risk of accidents, injuries and drownings during attempts to board the boats.

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Adapted by ASEAN Now. Source 10 April 2026