Three dead after small boat incident in Channel
The Royal Navy, French navy, Coastguard and RNLI lifeboats were all involved in a major rescue operation off the Kent coast on Wednesday morning.
Three people have died after a small boat incident in the English Channel and 43 others were rescued, according to Government sources.
The Royal Navy, French navy, Coastguard and RNLI lifeboats were all involved in a major rescue operation off the Kent coast on Wednesday morning.
RNLI lifeboats were launched from Dover at 3.07am, followed by more from Ramsgate and Hastings.
More than 30 of those rescued were pulled from the water, a Government source told the PA news agency.
It is understood the number of people confirmed dead so far could be likely to rise.
In Dover, a black body bag was brought to shore on a stretcher from the Dover RNLI lifeboat at around 11.15am. It was taken up to waiting forensics tents outside the RNLI headquarters.
There are likely to have been freezing temperatures in the Channel overnight amid a cold snap sweeping across the UK.
The temperature recorded at Dungeness overnight was between 0C and 1C, according to the Met Office.
The tragedy came a day after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled a raft of new measures in a bid to curb Channel crossings as he told MPs in the Commons: “We have to stop the boats.”
More than 44,000 people have made the dangerous crossing this year, Government figures show.
At least 27 migrants died when a dinghy sank while heading to the UK from France in November last year.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman is expected to make a statement on the incident in the Commons on Wednesday afternoon.
