Two migrants die as 100 attempt to cross Channel on makeshift boat

Two women migrants have tragically died after trying to cross the Channel, French authorities have confirmed. The tragedy unfolded early on Saturday morning off the coast near Neufchatel-Hardelot in Calais.

Around 100 people crammed into a makeshift boat in a bid to make the perilous crossing at 3.15am local time, but it soon ran into difficulties. The boat's engine failed and it drifted for a while before it was able to return to the beach at around 4.15am. Firefighters were called out following a report of a child suffering from hypothermia and found the two women - believed to be from Somalia - in cardiopulmonary arrest.

They were pronounced dead at 5.00am by a doctor. The child and his parents were taken to Boulogne hospital for treatment.

The death of the two women was formally acknowledged by Calais' local mayor.

Paulette Juilien-Peuvion said: "Two women died, and some sixty others were rescued. What could have happened, I don't know. I was called during the night to be told that a boat had left and that people were in the water."

Police said the remains of the boat would be taken away for examination, and that they were still attempting to identify the two victims.

"Plenty of people ended up in the sea, but others were crushed before it went down," they added.

Boulogne prosecutors said they had opened an investigation into the incident to determine the causes of the tragedy.

A spokesperson for the préfet of Pas-de-Calais said: "We still deplore this fact today. Through greed and disregard for human life, smuggling networks are increasingly putting people, adults and children, at risk, selling them crossings across a dangerous sea aboard completely unsuitable vessels.

"In the face of this criminal cynicism, the state is demonstrating the strength of its commitment.

"Every day, lives are saved by the determined action of police officers and gendarmes, who tirelessly fight against these departures, and by rescue operations conducted at sea by the maritime prefecture or on land by the firefighters service."

They added that Friday had been a busy night for attempted illegal crossings to the UK.

The deaths of the two women bring the total number of fatalities from Channel crossings this year to around 25.