A 10-year-old child and two 30-year-old women have died after a small boat that was attempting to cross the English Channel got into difficulty off the northern coast of France, local authorities have said.
Officials responded to a distress call from the boat, which was carrying 105 people, after it departed from the Blériot Plage in Sangatte on Monday morning.
Three passengers were treated on board but were later confirmed dead by an emergency medical team flown out by helicopter, the French Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said.
Pas-de-Calais prefecture said its initial findings suggested the deaths were caused by trampling but an investigation has been launched to determine the exact cause.
Of the 102 other people on board, nine were treated by emergency services upon their arrival in the port of Calais, the prefecture said.
François-Xavier Lauch, prefect of Pas-de-Calais, blamed the incident on smuggling networks, which he said expose vulnerable people, including children, to the deadly risks of crossings.
The prefecture described the boat as a taxi-boat, which requires migrants to wade out onto the water to board.
Three other people died after similar taxi-boat departures last week, French authorities said.
Monday’s deaths take the total number of migrants who have died so far this year to 20, according to Pas-de-Calais prefecture. For the same period last year, it said the number was 21.
Thousands of migrants attempt the perilous journey from France to the UK every year. In doing so, they cross one of the most dangerous and busiest shipping lanes in the world.
More people attempt the route in the summer months when the weather is warmer and when seas are calmer.
The UK recorded the highest number of migrant arrivals so far this year on Wednesday – with a total of 781 arriving in 10 small boats, according to Home Office figures.
Two boats also reached UK shores last week without being intercepted by UK authorities, at Folkestone and Samphire Hoe in Kent.
In July last year, France and the UK agreed on a “one in, one out” returns deal, which was designed as a deterrent to stop boats from crossing the Channel.
The deal allows the UK to return some small boat arrivals while agreeing to take in the same number of people from France who are believed to have a legitimate claim to come to Britain.
In August the UK government said it was making progress in tackling small boats, with the percentage who had made the journey in 2026 much lower than for the same period in 2025 but added it needed to “push further and harder in order to eradicate this vile trade”.
So far, 2026 has seen 18,609 people successfully make the Channel crossing, which is 42% lower than the same period in 2025 when 32,188 had crossed in small boats.
