Four migrants drown in Channel boat attempt off Calais

The death toll of migrants attempting to cross the English Channel rose by four on Thursday after two men and two women drowned while attempting to board an inflatable boat in northern France.

Thirty-eight people were rescued, according to an official in Calais. He said the victims were carried away by dangerous currents as they were trying to embark.

Attempted crossings and deaths have surged in recent days. Two people died in a similar incident north of Calais last week. More than a hundred people were rescued on Wednesday in two separate operations while trying to cross the Channel.

Thursday’s incident happened along a broad expanse of sand, backed by dunes and a forest where people attempting the perilous crossing hide out, sometimes for days at a time, as they wait for boats and suitable weather and sea conditions.

Traffickers use so-called ‘taxi-boats’ to pick people up along the northern French coast and transport them across the Channel to reach England.