Two people die during the attempt to cross the failed channels

Two people have died trying to cross the La Mancha channel on Saturday morning, French officials said to the AFP news agency.

The incident occurred during the night off the northern coast of France, when an improvised boat to try to reach the United Kingdom, authorities said.

Sixty people from the attempt were rescued and “are currently being treated by civil protection,” according to French official Isabelle Fradin-Thirode cited by the AFP news agency.

A couple and their son suffering from moderate hypothermia were taken to a hospital in Boulogne, he added.

The incident during the night occurred south of the beaches of Neufchâtel-Hardelot in the Pas-de-Calais region.

At least 25 people have died so far this year trying to make the dangerous cross in small boats.

Earlier this month, three people died, probably in love with the bottom of a full boat, off the coast of Calais during another attempt to cross.

Last year, 50 people died while trying to cross the channel, according to the incidents recorded by the French coastal guard.

More than 30,000 people have arrived in the United Kingdom in small boats so far in 2025 and more than 50,000 have crossed since the work came to power in July 2024.

The United Kingdom government has had greater pressure on the number of small boats that cross the United Kingdom and applications of asylum applicants.

Recently, France and the United Kingdom agreed to a return agreement “One in, One Out”, which was designed as a deterrent to prevent boats from crossing the channel. It proposes that for each migrant the United Kingdom returns to France, another migrant who had not tried a crossing of channels, but with a strong case for asylum in Britain will come the other way.

Sir Keir Starmer has previously called the “totally unacceptable” crosses and the interior secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has said that the “vile” people behind them are “wreaking havoc on our borders.”