Migrants attempt longer Channel crossing after recent deaths
Sep 30, 2025
Calais [France], September 30: A group of migrants set off across the English Channel via an unusual route, after three people died during small boat crossings over the weekend.
After a quiet morning in northern France, a large black dinghy carrying migrants was pictured having set off from a beach near Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont on the west coast.
The dinghy was escorted by two French vessels as it made its way out to sea on Monday.
Usually small boats set off from nearer to Calais, which makes the journey to Dover considerably shorter.
According to local media, a teenager and two women died trying to make the crossing over the weekend.
The deaths of the two women, reported to be from Somalia, are thought to have happened after about 100 people had left northern France for the UK in a makeshift boat overnight on Friday into Saturday.
The investigation into the death of the teenager, who was reported to have died early on Sunday at Ecault beach, in Saint-Etienne-au-Mont, is ongoing.
Source: Qatar Tribune
