Person dead and 50 rescued after migrant boat crossing English Channel sinks

A person has died and 50 have been rescued after a boat sank in the English Channel. French authorities have confirmed the tragedy this morning (August 12).

Authorities said the boat was carrying migrants. A major rescue operation has been taking place this morning at the scene, the Mirror reports.

It involves five French ships, one helicopter and two British ships. The rescue operation was launched after the boat sank off the coast of Northern France, according to France's Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea.

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The RNLI said a lifeboat crew was sent to the Channel at around 4am this morning. A number of people were seen being brought off a lifeboat on stretchers in Dover.

A spokesperson for the French Coastguard said: "This Saturday, August 12 the regional operational centre for surveillance and rescue (CROSS) Gris-Nez is informed by the public service patrol boat Cormoran that a migrant boat was sinking off Sangatte. The Cormorant then launched its semi-rigid to rescue the castaways. In parallel, the CROSS Gris Nez mobilized.

"At this stage, under the coordination of the CROSS Gris Nez, about 50 people were rescued, some of them by British means. Unfortunately, six people were recovered in serious condition and one of them, evacuated by helicopter to the hospital in Calais was declared dead.

"An investigation was opened by the Boulogne public prosecutor's office." An HM Coastguard spokesman added: "HM Coastguard is currently assisting the French authorities, Gris Nez, in a search and rescue response to an incident involving a small boat in the Channel. Dover RNLI lifeboat has been sent as part of that