At least six people dead and dozens rescued as migrant boat crossing Channel capsizes
At least six people have died and dozens of others have been rescued after a migrant boat crossing the English Channel capsized.
At least 50 people have been rescued, French authorities said.
A search and rescue operation involving five French ships, two British ships and a helicopter is under way following the incident off Cap Gris Nez in northern France.
Local mayor Franck Dhersin said a vast rescue operation was launched at around 4am UK time, as dozens of boats tried to make the crossing at the same time.
He said: “Near Sangatte they unfortunately found dead people”.
A UK government spokesperson says it is “aware of the incident in the Channel”, adding: “HM Coastguard are working on a coordinated response and further information will be provided in due course.”
Home Secretary Suella Braverman chaired a meeting with Border Force officials who have been responding to the incident on Saturday morning.
She posted on Twitter, formerly known as X, and said: “My thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the tragic loss of life in the Channel today.”
The tragedy happened as Conservative ministers face calls to quit after Legionella bacteria was found on the Bibby Stockholm barge housing migrants – in what has been branded a “complete and utter farce”.
‘Government has blood on its hands’
A union boss warned the UK government has “blood on its hands” over the Channel tragedy and described its approach a “moral disgrace”.
Head of bargaining at the Public and Commercial Services union, Paul O’Connor said: “There is a readily available policy to prevent this tragic loss of life.
“Unfortunately, our calls on the government to adopt it have fallen only stony ground. It’s clear they have no desire to prevent these dangerous crossings.
“Instead, they’re pouring taxpayers’ money down the drain on policies which are unlawful, unworkable and doomed to failure.”
Ministers “want to scapegoat refugees” in a bid to distract from “catastrophic failings” on people’s living standards,” Mr O’Connor said.
“They don’t care that people die as a result. They have blood on their hands.”
Conservative MP for Dover, Natalie Elphicke, said the tragedy underlines the need for joint patrols in the Channel.
“These overcrowded and unseaworthy deathtraps should obviously be stopped by the French authorities from leaving the French coast in the first place.
“The time has come for joint patrols on the French coast and a cross-Channel security zone before any more lives are lost.”
Desperate efforts to bale water out of sinking ship using shoes
One volunteer who was on board one of the rescue boats described the migrants’ frantic efforts to bale water out of their sinking vessel using their shoes.
Anne Thorel said: “We saved 54 people, including one woman… There were too many of them on the (migrant) boat.”
Meanwhile, France’s Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said: “Unfortunately, six people were recovered in serious condition and one of them, evacuated by helicopter to Calais hospital, was declared dead.”
In a later statement, the French authorities added that five people rescued by the vessel Notre Dame du Risban were also pronounced dead.
The five deceased, together with 37 other people, have been taken to the port of Calais.
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HM Coastguard said it is assisting French authorities in response to the incident involving a “small boat”, adding that a Dover RNLI lifeboat has been sent as part of that assistance with Folkestone and Langdon Bay coastguard rescue teams.
Ten people collected by an RNLI boat were taken to Dover – however the vessel had survivors of another operation on board.
French authorities said: “The exact count of the people collected on each of the boats is not easy.
“The human toll in the British sector is being consolidated.”
An investigation has now been opened by the prosecutor’s office in Boulogne, a city on the coast of northern France.
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The number of people who have crossed the English Channel in small boats in the past five years has passed 100,000.
The incident comes as Rishi Sunak‘s government spent the week making announcements about its efforts to reduce the number of asylum seekers, hoping to win support from voters as the ruling Conservative Party trails in opinion polls.
Thursday’s figures were recorded as another major search and rescue operation was launched after 17 migrants went overboard and were pulled from the water.
The Home Office said they were all taken ashore for medical checks.
Liverpool have won the Premier League title after a 5-1 victory over Tottenham at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s men did it in impressive style, turning over Spurs in a convincing win.
It was a rocky start for the Reds after Dominic Solanke put the north London side ahead.
However, fortunes quickly changed in the first half as Liverpool scored three times without a response.
Captain Virgil van Dijk (centre) celebrates. Pic: Reuters
Salah on his knees in celebration after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott (below) and Jarell Quansah celebrate after full-time. Pic: PA
Slot cheers after the full-time whistle. Pic: AP
In the second half, it took until the 63rd minute for Mohamed Salah to make it 4-1 before a fifth followed.
The Reds have won the title in manager Arne Slot’s first season in charge, and move level with fierce rivals Manchester United on 20 league championships.
But it makes them arguably the most successful English club ever as they have won more European Cup or Champions League titles.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports after the final whistle: “It’s special and it’s something that we don’t take for granted. It’s amazing.
“A lot of emotions before the game, during the whole week, but we got the job done and we (are) truly deserved champions of England. (Liverpool is) the most beautiful club in the world and I think we deserve all of this. Let’s enjoy the next couple of weeks and let it sink in.”
Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas poses with a Premier League trophy cut out. Pic: Reuters
Manager Arne Slot and his team after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Slot took over last summer from Jurgen Klopp, who guided them to their previous and maiden Premier League title triumph in 2020, when the COVID-19 lockdown saw matches played behind closed doors.
He is the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and the fifth man to do so in a debut campaign after Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini, and Antonio Conte.
Speaking to Sky Sports he said: “They [the players] did an outstanding job today. The main job was to win. Everyone said we had got it already. But we had to make sure and we got over the line.”
Several players, including Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, and Mohamed Salah, played leading roles in both the 2025 and 2020 campaigns.
Van Dijk and Salah recently signed new contracts extending their careers at the club.
Mohamed Salah takes a selfie with fans after scouring the fourth Liverpool goal. Pic: AP
Fans at Anfield during the game. Pic: AP
Fans in the stands at Anfield before full-time. Pic: Reuters
Liverpool will have to wait until the final game of the season – at home to Crystal Palace on 25 May – to be presented with the Premier League trophy.
It will be the first time the club’s fans will have seen their side lift the top-flight title in person since 1990.
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Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
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Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
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