One person has died and several have been taken to hospital after a migrant boat capsized in the English Channel.
Authorities said 50 people have been rescued after their boat struggled in the water on Saturday morning.
A number of people were brought off lifeboats on stretchers. French authorities said six people were recovered in a serious condition with one, who was evacuated by helicopter to a hospital in Calais, later pronounced dead.
The statement from France’s Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said two British ships and several French vessels were involved in the operation.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman will chair a meeting with Border Force officials on Saturday morning, it is understood.
A UK government spokesperson said: “We are aware of an incident in the Channel. HM Coastguard are working on a co-ordinated response and further information will be provided in due course.”
The number of migrants crossing the British Channel over the last five-and-a-half years was said to surpass 100,000 on Thursday, as the number of small boat crossings hit a daily high for 2023.
Nearly 16,000 people have crossed the Channel in a small boat this year.
Yesterday it was announced that all asylum seekers will be moved off the housing barge Bibby Stockholm after bacteria was found in its water system.
All 39 people were evacuated from the barge and will be temporarily placed back in hotels, with a date yet to be confirmed for the migrants to return to the floating accommodation.
