A mourning that adds to the gloomy picture of attempts to cross the Channel by migrants stranded in France.
One of them was discovered dead on a beach in the town of Wissant, in Pas-de-Calais, Thursday morning near a small boat.
Two other migrants were near his body.
They were transported in "severe hypothermia" to the hospital, indicate sources close to the investigation.
Rescue operations have multiplied in recent days off the North and Pas-de-Calais, in the face of desperate attempts to reach the United Kingdom before the winter period.
Already the day before, a migrant died, another was missing and more than 400 were rescued at sea following the sinking of several makeshift boats.
To read also "This is my last chance": in Calais, the desperate attempts of migrants to cross the Channel before winter
The rescue operations on Wednesday required the intervention of several ships of the French Navy, stars of the maritime gendarmerie, various units of the SNSM (national sea rescue company) or two helicopters from the French and Belgian armies.
3,500 "recovered in difficulty" between January and August
Since the end of 2018, illegal crossings of the Channel by migrants seeking to reach the United Kingdom have increased. An observation which is coupled with a situation on the spot that the dismantling of the Jungle has not helped. "They are still there, but they have been made invisible", described at the end of October to Parisian Pierre Roques, member of the association L'Auberge des migrants. Migrants have now found refuge on a large part of the coast, which stretches as far as Ouistreham (Calvados).
According to the maritime prefect Philippe Dutrieux, some 15,400 migrants attempted the crossing between January 1 and August 31, of which 3,500 were "recovered in difficulty" in the strait and brought back to the French coast.
In 2020, crossings and attempted crossings concerned some 9,500 people, compared to 2,300 in 2019 and 600 in 2018.
