Two Men Die in Overloaded Channel Boat as Migrants Bail Water With Shoes

Two men lost their lives in the early hours of Monday after the small boat carrying them toward the English Channel got into difficulty off the northern French coast, according to authorities in the region. The victims, believed to be in their 30s and 40s, were among a large group of migrants who had set out from a beach near Berck, a seaside town in northern France, late on Sunday evening.

Local media reported that police observed the group departing the shoreline at roughly 22:00 local time. By the time rescue crews reached the vessel, the situation aboard had deteriorated sharply. Jean-Marc Lamblin, director of the French national sea rescue service known as SNSM, described a chaotic scene to La Voix du Nord newspaper, saying the boat was dangerously overcrowded and that those on board were frantically trying to remove seawater using whatever they had available, including their own shoes.

Lamblin said the rescue team counted at least 80 people packed onto the vessel when they arrived, and that a powerful smell of fuel hung over the scene. The combination of an overloaded boat, rough conditions and leaking petrol created an extremely hazardous environment for everyone involved, he indicated.

Two women were transported to hospital suffering from burns, which authorities attributed to the presence of gasoline mixing with the seawater around them. Medical staff described their injuries as not life-threatening. According to La Voix du Nord, the two women are Somali nationals aged 20 and 26, and they are now recovering at a hospital in Rang-du-Fliers.

The scale of the overcrowding became even clearer as the rescue unfolded. Lamblin explained that so many people, including children, had crowded onto the boat that roughly 20 individuals were left stranded in the water because there was simply no room for them aboard. The two men who later died were already in cardiac arrest when SNSM crews arrived on the scene, he said.

The men and the injured women were brought back to shore, where firefighters and paramedics attempted to revive them. Despite those efforts, the two men were pronounced dead at around midnight. The Boulogne-sur-Mer public prosecutor's office has since opened an investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the deaths, a standard step in cases involving fatalities at sea.

The incident adds to a grim pattern of fatalities connected to small boat crossings, which have become the primary method by which people are detected entering the UK illegally since 2020. Experts have repeatedly warned that overcrowding makes these crossings significantly riskier, and the United Nations has estimated that at least 84 people died while attempting to cross the Channel in 2024 alone.

The broader numbers illustrate both the scale of the phenomenon and a recent downward trend. Between 1 January and 27 September 2026, a total of 19,135 people crossed the English Channel by small boat from France, a figure 42% lower than the same period a year earlier. Boats arriving in the UK between late September 2025 and late September 2026 carried an average of 67 people, more than double the average recorded in 2021.

Nearly all of those who arrive by small boat claim asylum, and under international law they are permitted to remain in the country while their applications are assessed. Small boat arrivals accounted for 40% of asylum applications between July 2025 and June 2026. During that same period, Eritrea was the most common country of origin, representing 18% of all arrivals, followed by Sudan, Afghanistan, Somalia and Iran, according to Home Office data.

The figures also show that small boat crossings represent only a fraction of overall migration to the UK. Between January and December 2025, small boat arrivals amounted to roughly 5% of total immigration into the country. Separately, 4,712 people were detected entering the UK without permission through other routes, such as hiding in vehicles, travelling on ferries or arriving through airports, in the year to June 2026, a decline of 17% compared with the previous period.

The UK government has pledged to "smash the gangs" responsible for organising these crossings as part of its effort to reduce the numbers making the journey. The latest figures from the Home Office record 19,451 people crossing the Channel in small boats this year, a number 43% lower than at the same point last year and 23% below the level recorded at this stage in 2024.

In a separate development on Sunday, the Home Office said 149 migrants were picked up during a mid-Channel rescue operation and brought to Gosport in Hampshire. Around 150 anti-migrant demonstrators had gathered in the south coast town in an attempt to prevent the group from being brought ashore, setting off flares and becoming involved in scuffles with police.

The deaths near Berck underscore the persistent dangers facing those who attempt the crossing, particularly when vessels are overloaded and conditions at sea deteriorate. Investigators in France are now working to piece together exactly what happened aboard the boat, while the two surviving women continue to receive treatment for their burns.