Eight people die while attempting to cross English Channel to the UK

About 20 people have lost their lives in two weeks while making the perilous journey on overcrowded boats.

At least eight people have died overnight while attempting to cross the English Channel from France to the United Kingdom, according to French regional authorities.

“Several migrants lost their lives,” the Pas-de-Calais prefecture said on Sunday. The AFP news agency, quoting a French police source, reported that the tragedy happened after the boat they were travelling in capsized.

The announcement comes less than two weeks after 12 people were killed after a boat they were travelling in capsized during an attempted crossing of the Channel.

It was the deadliest such disaster this year and brought the number of migrant and refugee deaths in the Channel to 37, up from 12 in 2023.

Regional prefect Jacques Billant was set to hold a news conference later in the day, his office said.

Maritime authorities said on Saturday that numerous attempts by people to make the perilous crossing in small boats have been attempted in recent days, with 200 people rescued in 24 hours over Friday and Saturday alone.

According to British officials, more than 22,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in England by crossing the Channel since the beginning of this year.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron pledged this summer to strengthen “cooperation” in handling the surge in undocumented migrant numbers.

In July, four people died when their inflatable boat capsized off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France.

In April, five people, including a child, died on an overcrowded boat carrying 112 people from Wimereux, about 32km (20 miles) southwest of the French port of Calais to the UK.

The deadliest single such disaster to date was in November 2021 when 27 people died when their boat capsized.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies