At least 10 migrants died off the northern French coast on Tuesday trying to cross the Channel to England, with a major rescue operation underway after the deadliest such disaster this year.
AFP correspondents on site said they saw six body bags on the coast off the northern port of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Emergency services were out in force and supplying urgent medical assistance, French maritime authorities said.
Many of the migrants were in a critical state. The regional French maritime prefecture said at least 10 migrants died while a source close to the investigation said at least 13 had perished including three minors.
聽Crew on a French government-operated ship, the Minck, were the first to become aware of the emergency and to respond, naval officer Etienne Baggio said.
French navy helicopters, fishing boats and military vessels are being mobilised for the operation, which is still on-going, he said.
It is the deadliest such disaster this year which has already seen 25 people die in migrant crossings, up from the 2023 death toll of 12.
The French and British governments have for years sought to stop the flow of migrants, who pay smugglers thousands of euros per head for the passage to England from France aboard small boats.
British prime minister Keir Starmer and France鈥檚 President Emmanuel Macron had earlier this summer pledged to strengthen 鈥榗ooperation鈥� in handling the surge in undocumented migrant numbers.
But on Monday alone, 351 migrants crossed in small boats, with 21,615 making the journey this year, according to UK government statistics.
The crossing often proves perilous, and in November 2021, 27 migrants died when their boat capsized in the deadliest single such disaster to date.
French authorities seek to stop migrants taking to the water but do not intervene once they are afloat except for rescue purposes, citing safety concerns.
Starmer has cancelled a plan by Britain鈥檚 former Conservative government to send irregular migrants to a holding camp in Rwanda.
The British government is now planning 鈥榓 major surge鈥� in returns of irregular migrants to countries including Iraq, an official said Thursday, as it tries to clear an asylum backlog.
Meanwhile, both governments are seeking to break the business models of the people-smuggling gangs who organise the crossings and are paid thousands of euros by each migrant for the risky trip.