2 migrants, including an 8-year-old die seeking to cross English Channel to Britian

A boat thought to carry migrants is escorted by a vessel from the French Gendarmerie Nationale in the English Channel off Wimereux beach, France, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga, File)

Lille, France — An eight-year-old boy and a woman, who are both believed to be Turkish nationals, have died off France’s northern coast while attempting to cross the Channel into Britain, French authorities said on Wednesday.

The latest tragedy, which took place overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, brings to five the number of would-be asylum seekers who have died over the last 10 days trying to reach Britain, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The woman and child were found dead in an overloaded boat carrying some 80 migrants who requested help from a French navy vessel, said France’s Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea.

The small boats used by smugglers to take would-be refugees across the Channel are often so overloaded that passengers die of suffocation or are crushed to death.

The boat set off from the northern town of Gravelines, and a French navy vessel was immediately deployed to monitor it.

French authorities do not intervene once boats are afloat except for rescue purposes, citing safety concerns.

The French military intervened when authorities were informed that two passengers on board - a woman and a child - were unconscious.

They were pronounced dead by a medical team and taken to the port city of Calais, along with 10 other passengers who had requested assistance, the maritime prefecture said. The boat continued its journey towards the U.K.

The victims are believed to be an eight-year-old boy and a 40-year-old woman, both of Turkish nationals, according to rescue services.

Most of the migrants who requested assistance were Turkish nationals but also included Iranians, Iraqis and Sudanese.

Utopia 56, a migrant aid association, said that people-smugglers have recently launched multiple small boats due to favourable weather.

Celestin Pichaud, a coordinator with Utopia 56, said that they had received nine messages from migrants in distress between 11:30 pm (2130 GMT) on Tuesday and midday on Wednesday.

Among them was a voice message in halting English saying that “at least two people had died”, Pichaud added, deploring “a policy of non-reception that puts people in danger”.

U.K.’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer this month announced tougher new policies to tackle high levels of regular and irregular migration, in an attempt to stem a growing loss of support to the hard right.

According to French authorities, at least 15 migrants have died since the beginning of 2025 while trying to reach England.

A total of 78 migrants died in 2024 while trying to cross the Channel aboard small boats, a record since the rise of crossings in this area in 2018.