Two hundred and two migrants in difficulty as they tried to cross the Channel to reach England on Thursday were rescued in the Strait of Pas-de-Calais, said the maritime prefecture in a press release.
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During the night of Wednesday to Thursday, then during the day of Thursday, the regional operational center for surveillance and rescue (CROSS) Gris-Nez identified “several boats in difficulty in the Strait of Pas-de-Calais”, said the maritime prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea in a press release.
The Cross then engaged several nautical resources to help people in difficulty, including the intervention tug Abeille Languedoc, chartered by the French Navy, said the prefecture.
Arrived in the area,
"the tug found that the boat had taken on water and that some of the castaways were at sea"
, she added.
At the same time, the Dauphin helicopter, from the French Navy, was also hired "to carry out searches and to ensure that all the castaways have been rescued".
The ship picked up 43 castaways on board.
The tugboat then intervened on two other operations recovering a total of 56 shipwrecked people that it dropped off at the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
In addition, the SNSM rescued 41 people, a patrol boat from the French Navy recovered 16 migrants on board and another from customs, 46.
At least 30 deaths in 2021
Since the end of 2018, illegal crossings of the Channel by migrants seeking to reach the United Kingdom have multiplied despite repeated warnings from the authorities which underline the danger linked to the density of traffic, strong currents and the low temperature of the water.
These attempts left at least 30 dead and four missing in 2021, according to a report from the maritime prefecture.
An exile candidate died at sea in January.
