What we know about the tragedy that left eight dead off the coast of Ambleteuse

Eight migrants died when their clandestine boat sank on the night of Saturday to Sunday off the coast of Pas-de-Calais.

“A terrible toll.” The prefect of Pas-de-Calais, Jacques Billant, gave a press conference on Sunday September 15 after the death of eight migrants on the night of Saturday to Sunday, in an attempt to cross the Channel, off Ambleteuse (Pas-de-Calais). This tragedy comes after the worst shipwreck of the year in this region, which left twelve dead on September 3. Franceinfo summarizes what we know about this new shipwreck in the Channel.

An overloaded boat and few life jackets

The boat left from the La Slack sector, a coastal river whose mouth is located between Wimereux and Ambleteuse in Pas-de-Calais. “Quickly in trouble”the boat is “came to run aground” on a rocky point and “was clearly torn on the rocks”explained the prefect, specifying that the shipwreck occurred “shortly before midnight”.

According to the prefect, 59 people were on board this boat and “only one in six people had a life jacket”. In all, “20 gendarmes, around fifty firefighters, a drone and 20 machines” were engaged in the relief operations that took place “in very complex conditions, at night”assures the prefect.

The victims are “obviously adult men”

The eight victims of this shipwreck are “obviously adult men”said the prefect. Six survivors were hospitalized in relative emergency. Among them, there is a ten-month-old baby with hypothermia. The other castaways are being taken care of by the Ambleteuse town hall. They are “originating from Eritrea, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt and Iran.”

Thanks to a favorable weather window, many crossing attempts have taken place in recent days. Two hundred people were rescued at sea on Saturday in the Pas-de-Calais area. This tragedy occurred less than two weeks after the worst shipwreck of the year in this region, which left twelve dead on September 3. In total since the beginning of the year “46 migrants died”recalls the prefect.

An investigation opened

The Boulogne-sur-Mer public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation, entrusted to the research section of the maritime gendarmerie and to the Office for the fight against migrant trafficking (OLTIM). The Prefect of Pas-de-Calais indicates that since the beginning of the year, 238 smugglers have been arrested in the act, including ten between September 12 and 15.

Attempts to cross the Channel in makeshift boats have grown in response to the growing lockdown of the Channel Tunnel and the port of Calais to stem migrant intrusions. According to British authorities, more than 22,000 migrants have arrived in England after crossing the Channel by boat since the start of the year. “It’s horrible. It’s another loss of life.”reacted David Lammy, head of British diplomacy, to the BBC.

Associations denounce the inaction of the State

“These smugglers are scoundrels, but our states are scoundrels”tackled Yann Manzi, co-founder of the Utopia56 association, on franceinfo. As autumn approaches, the weather deteriorates and temperatures drop, attempts accelerate and the crossings become more and more dangerous. “People will continue to die and will continue to die until we have safe routes to England.”explains Yann Manzi.

“The French and British states must rethink their migration policies immediately”claimed on X the Auberge des migrants, another association helping exiles, describing the Channel as “murderous border”.