Four people have died off the coast of northern France after attempting to board a boat to take them across the English Channel, local authorities have said.
Two men and two women died after they “tried to board a water taxi” and “the currents, which can be dangerous here, swept them away”, the Pas-de-Calais prefecture said at a news conference, adding that the death toll was still “provisional”.
One person was treated for hypothermia and had non-life-threatening injuries, and 37 others were taken to the hospital, he added.
The boat continued its journey towards the UK, carrying around 30 people.
A UK government spokesperson said they were “deeply saddened” to hear about the deaths.
“Every death in the Channel is a tragedy and a stark reminder of the dangers posed by criminal gangs exploiting vulnerable people for profit,” the spokesperson said.
“We will continue working relentlessly with the French and our partners overseas to prevent these perilous journeys.”
Rescue efforts began at first light on Thursday morning – around 07:30 local time (06:30 BST) – after the incident off the coast of Saint-Etienne-au-Mont, south of Boulogne-sur-Mer in Pas-de-Calais.
Francois-Xavier Lauch, the representative of the Pas-de-Calais prefecture, said the four who died were “already quite far into the sea”.
The number of attempted crossings has risen in recent days due to the calm weather in the Channel.
Over the past three years, crossings in the Channel have increased, with 41,472 people arriving in the UK by small boat in 2025.
Between 1 January and 26 March 2026, a total of 4,441 people crossed the English Channel by small boat from France.
This is 33% lower than the number who had reached the UK by this point in 2025, which was 6,642, although weather conditions may have played a part in this, with rougher conditions in the Channel compared with the same period in 2025.
People smugglers have begun using taxi-boats as a tactic to avoid police.
Instead of inflating their boats in the dunes along the coast, close to police patrols, the people smuggling gangs are launching them from better hidden locations, often dozens of kilometres from the main departure beaches.
They then cruise along the coastline, like taxis or buses, picking up their paying customers who now wait in the sea, out of reach of the police.
SOURCE: BBC NEWS
