A boat with dozens of migrants rips apart in the English Channel off France, killing 12
Officials say a boat carrying migrants has ripped apart in the English Channel as they tried to reach Britain from northern France, and 12 are dead
BOULOGNE-SUR-MER, France (AP) — A boat carrying migrants ripped apart in the English Channel as they attempted to reach Britain from northern France on Tuesday, plunging dozens into the treacherous waterway and leaving 12 dead, authorities said.
Most of the victims were believed to be women, some under 18, and many of the passengers didn't have life preservers, officials said, with one calling it the deadliest migrant accident in the channel this year.
“Unfortunately, the bottom of the boat ripped open,” said Olivier Barbarin, mayor of Le Portel near Boulogne-sur-Mer, where a first aid post was set up to treat victims. “If people don’t know how to swim in the agitated waters ... it can go very quickly."
Europe’s increasingly strict asylum rules, growing xenophobia and hostile treatment of migrants have been pushing them north. Before Tuesday’s accident, at least 30 migrants had died or gone missing while trying to cross to the U.K. this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.
