Dramatic footage shows RNLI lifeboat crew pulling family from stricken dinghy in the Channel
Dramatic footage shows a lifeboat crew rescuing five people from the English Channel.
The video shows the crew hauling the migrants, including a 14-year-old girl, aboard their boat and desperately trying to keep them conscious.
Among the five people pulled to safety are believed to be a family of four from Afghanistan.
On helmet-cam footage one member of the crew can be heard yelling to his shipmates, “guys this is serious, one person not breathing”.
It then shows the crew pulling an exhausted person wearing a red lifejacket aboard their boat and carrying them across the deck.
Others rescued from the stricken dinghy can be seen lying on the ship as the crew work frantically to keep them awake.
Members of the crew can be heard shouting “hello” and urging the people to keep their eyes open.
After wrapping them in blankets they reassure the sobbing migrants that they are safe, aboard a lifeboat, and about to be taken back to shore.
One crew member encourages them to keep shivering so he can hear that they’re still awake.
He can then be heard saying: “Just stay awake for me buddy, OK”.
All those pulled from the sea struggle to retain consciousness.
Later it seems one has had to be given oxygen.
Fortunately, all those rescued by the crew on this occasion survived.
A Royal National Lifeboat Institution volunteer, who has responded similar callouts in the past, revealed he and his fellow crew members live in fear of finding “tens of bodies” floating in the sea and had even recently received training in how to deliver a baby at sea.
He said: “Dinghies are always packed the same way – women and children huddled on the thin plywood floor, men on the outside, seated on the inflated hull.
“It used to be that dinghies only had 20 people in them. Now, we often pick up vessels with two or three times that amount. The dinghy bottom is usually swilling with a mixture of seawater, petrol and vomit.
“Floating on top of this highly inflammable, rank cocktail – among the plastic bags and spoiled belongings – you might also see a foot pump and a pile of floppy bicycle inner tubes in case the boat sinks.”
He added that their biggest concern when trying to pull a boat alongside is that the cheap, overloaded vessel will split and send its terrified passengers into the water.
The RNLI’s Head of Lifeboats, Simon Ling, said: “We are accustomed to seeing spikes in activity around our coast throughout the summer months, partly as a result of new trends in water use but seeing year-round increases in launches and the potential impact these types of rescues have on our crew’s emotional wellbeing is not something the RNLI has been faced with before.
“We recognise there is more work to be done in support of our crews and this work and everyone at the RNLI remains focused on our core purpose of saving lives at sea.”
Comedy writer Bill Dare, – who worked on shows including Spitting Image and Dead Ringers – has died after an accident overseas, his agent said.
Described as a “super producer” by his peers, Dare, 64, worked on eight series of hugely popular satire puppet show Spitting Image.
Airing on ITV during the 1980s and 1990s, the show delighted in lampooning public figures including politicians, celebrities and royalty, winning BAFTAs and Emmys. It was rebooted in 2020.
Dare also created Dead Ringers, a comedy impressions show broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
He also produced The Now Show, a satirical take on the news which ran on Radio 4 from 1998 to 2024.
Dare worked on a wide range of comedy shows during his career, including the radio production of The Mary Whitehouse Experience in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He had also written several novels.
In a statement released on Monday, his agent JFL Agency confirmed he died at the weekend.
A spokesperson said: “We are shocked and greatly saddened to have to announce the death of our brilliant client Bill Dare, who died at the weekend following an accident overseas.
“Our thoughts are with his wife Lucy, daughter Rebecca, and with all of Bill’s family and friends who will be devastated by his loss.
“Bill was a truly legendary producer and writer, and his comedy instincts were second to none.”
Oasis depicted on Spitting Image in 1996. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
Colleagues were quick to pay tribute and reflect on his talent.
Impressionist Jon Culshaw wrote on X: “It’s impossible to express the unreal sense of loss at the passing of the incredible Bill Dare. The wisest comedy alchemist and the dearest, dearest friend. Much love to Lucy and all Bill’s family and friends. We shall all miss him more than we can say.”
David Baddiel posted on the social media platform: “Just heard that the original producer of The Mary Whitehouse Experience on radio, Bill Dare, has died. Bill was an amazing creative force. I owe him much. RIP.”
Former EastEnders actress Tracy-Ann Oberman said she was “devastated” and that her “entire comedy career was down to Bill”.
She wrote: “When I was on the BBC Radio 4 rep company early on in career – I ran into Bill in the corridors – He asked if I was good at accents. I said yes.
“He cast me in a sketch show. I had to do about 15 different accents. We recorded in front of a live audience at Broadcasting House – afterwards Bill said ‘Why have I never met you – you’re going to have a big career’.
“He was incredibly loyal and supportive and really opened a path for me into the R4 comedy world and then TV having come out of the RSC and theatre it was all new. I will always be grateful. Fly high Bill.”
Comedian and writer Mark Steel wrote: “This is so grim. Bill was a compassionate hearty soul with the ability to be beautifully grumpy, a marvellously thoughtful comic mind.
“He’d argue but always listen and you’d always laugh, he made a million shows and wanted them all to matter and would have made a million more.”
Have I Got News for You writer Pete Sinclair said: “I am utterly devastated by Bill’s death. I still can’t believe it. He was a comedy genius. A hugely talented writer as well as a brilliant producer. A close friend and co-writer. I cannot begin to say how much I’ll miss him.”
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Julia McKenzie, comedy commissioner for Radio 4, said: “I am so terribly sorry to hear this tragic news and my thoughts are with Bill’s wife, family and friends.
“Bill has been a huge part of Radio 4 comedy for decades, as a writer and producer, and listeners will have heard his legendary name at the end of many of their favourite shows.
“Bill was a comedy obsessive, and very instinctive about making the funniest choices when it came to writing, directing and editing.
“He cared so much about his work that in the production booth during Dead Ringers you’d see him crouched over the script, utterly focused on the show.
“He was funny and very dry in person, amusingly cynical when he needed to be and always pushed to keep the comedy he made, and particularly satire, spiky.
“I’ve known and worked with him for 18 years and like many I can’t believe he has gone, he will leave a big hole in the comedy world and in our hearts.”
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