According to the prefecture, the boat which was in French waters requested help. All the passengers of the boat were picked up aboard the Yser, a coastal surveillance boat.
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Sixty-six migrants, including three children, were taken care of by the maritime gendarmerie in Dieppe (Seine-Maritime) on the evening of Wednesday May 1 after trying to reach England, reports France Bleu Normandie. Around 8 p.m., the 66 people were welcomed in a gymnasium made available, with the assistance of Sdis de la Seine-Maritime and approved civil security associations.
Wednesday morning, around 9 a.m., an inflatable boat left Saint-Martin beach, in Petit-Caux (Seine-Maritime), near the Penly nuclear power plant, bound for England. A boat from the National Society of Sea Rescuers (SNSM) of Dieppe took to the sea to provide assistance. But the occupants of the boat refused, according to sea rescuers. The boat continued on its way with the aim of arriving in English waters where the passengers intended to ask the British for help. According to the SNSM, the boat had very little fuel and would not be able to dock in England.
All passengers on the boat have been recovered
Escorted by the maritime gendarmerie, the 66 people ended up finding themselves in difficulty. In the afternoon, while the boat was adrift, according to the Seine-Maritime prefecture, the boat which was in French waters requested help from the gendarmes who accompanied it. All the passengers in the boat were picked up aboard the Yser, a coastal surveillance boat. L’Abeille was also dispatched to the scene to recover the boat.
Three people, suspected of being smugglers, were arrested and placed in police custody, indicates the prefect of Seine-Maritime. Moreover “State services examine the administrative situations of migrants on a case-by-case basis, in close collaboration with the judicial authority”, adds the prefect. In November 2021, a boat with 22 people on board left from the same Petit-Caux beach before quickly breaking down. They were rescued by sea rescuers.
The maritime prefect of the Channel and the North Sea recalled on Wednesday that the maritime sector “is one of the busiest areas in the world, with more than 600 commercial ships passing through it per day and the weather conditions are often difficult”. He warns “anyone who plans to cross the Channel about the risks involved” because the sector is “particularly dangerous, even when the sea seems beautiful”.