English Channel tragedy as migrant dies after falling off boat off French coast

An overcrowded boat capsized in the channel this morning (Image: PA)

A migrant has died in the English Channel after falling from an overcrowded boat off the coast of France.

The man was one of a dozen people who fell off this morning while making the perilous journey. French authorities said he was rushed to land via helicopter where he was pronounced dead.

Several people fell into the sea off Hardelot in northern France, according to the French Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and North Sea.

Many people had attempted to cross the Channel since early Wednesday morning, the prefecture said, noting the good weather conditions.

Rescue services were deployed on the shore, with 20 migrants led into a building nearby to warm up, French news outlet Le Monde reports.

Migrants in northern France attempt to board a boat on October 25. (Image: Getty)

It brings the number of fatalities linked to overcrowded dinghies this year to 57. This year has been the deadliest for migrants trying to get to Britain by sea since 2018, with attempts to cross the Channel continuing despite dire warnings from British and French authorities.

Some two miles away from the coast, six soaked migrants - some of whom were wrapped in survival blankets - were seen sitting on a bench, according to reports.

According to a member of the charity Utopia 56, a French-based association mobilising citizens in order to support displaced and homeless people in France, a number of people were suffering from "severe hypothermia" after falling into the bitterly cold waters.

It comes after an Indian man of around 40 died off the French coast on Sunday after boarding a boat that departed from the town of Tardinghen in northern France, according to French authorities.

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Two days earlier, a woman and two men lost their lives after their small boat sank in the Channel off Calais, MailOnline reports.

And the week before that, a four-month-old baby perished in an overloaded boat bound for Britain.

According to UK Home Office figures, more than 26,000 migrants have arrived in Britain the start of the year.

The Home Office previously said: "We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

"The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice."