At least 12 people died after a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of northern France on Tuesday during an attempt to cross the English Channel, the French authorities said. It was the deadliest episode in the waterway this year as French and British governments struggle to prevent attempts at the perilous crossing.
Gérald Darmanin, France’s interior minister, said on the social media platform X that the vessel sank off the coast of Wimereux, in an area of the Pas-de-Calais region where several similar tragedies have occurred this year. Two people were still missing and several others were injured, Mr. Darmanin said.
“All government services are mobilized to find the missing and care for the victims,” he said.
The French maritime authorities said in a statement that dozens of people fell into the sea after their vessel encountered unspecified difficulties on Tuesday morning off the coast of Cap Gris-Nez.
Rescue workers picked up 65 people out of the water, some of them in critical condition, the maritime authorities said in a statement.
Rescue operations involving helicopters and several ships are still continuing, the maritime authorities said.
The post At Least 12 Die Trying to Cross English Channel, French Authorities Say appeared first on New York Times.
