At least 12 dead after boat with dozens of migrants ‘rips open’ in Channel, mayor says

At least 12 people have died after a boat with dozens of migrants tore apart in the English Channel, a local mayor has said.

Olivier Barbarin, mayor of Le Portel, a French coastal town being used in a rescue operation, said “the bottom of the boat ripped open”.

The French coastguard said more than 50 people had been rescued after a vessel got into difficulties on Tuesday morning.

Local authorities said several people needed emergency treatment and a temporary medical post has been set up at the port at Boulogne-sur-Mer, about 28 miles (45km) southwest of Calais.

A spokesperson for the French maritime prefecture said helicopters and boats have been used in the search for survivors.

Resources deployed included helicopters and vessels from the French customs and Navy, as well as boats from the SNSM, the French equivalent of the RNLI.

Another media outlet France 3 had initially said “at least 100 migrants” were on board at 11.30am (10.30am UK time).

France’s Interior minister Gerald Darmanin is expected in Pas-de-Calais later this afternoon.

Posting on X, he described the incident as “terrible”, adding that “all government resources [have been] mobilised to find the missing and take care of the victims”.

Le Portel is reportedly where the boat was launched.

At least 30 migrants have died or gone missing while trying to cross the Channel this year, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

Meanwhile figures show at least 2,109 migrants have tried to make the trip in small boats in the past seven days, according to the latest Home Office data.

Separately on Tuesday, an RNLI lifeboat docked in Dover with suspected migrants on board after being deployed to the English Channel.

It is not currently believed those people were rescued from the incident off the coast of France.