PARIS — Four migrants have died while trying to cross the English Channel on an inflatable boat from France to the U.K., French authorities said Friday.
The migrants' vessel capsized and punctured off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer, in northern France, the prefecture responsible for the region said in a statement. Sixty-three people were rescued by the French coast guard.
A French navy patrol boat spotted the overcrowded vessel early Friday as it deflated off the French coast. Several people were ''drifting in the water while others were still clinging to the broken rubber dingy," the statement said.
Navy vessels, a fishing boat and a Navy helicopter joined the effort. Survivors were brought to the shore in Boulogne to receive medical attention and temporary shelter, the statement also said.
Migrants trying to reach the U.K. risk drowning as they try to cross the busy English Channel, often aboard crowded, unseaworthy boats.
French maritime officials responsible for the Channel and the North Sea warned anyone who plans to cross the Channel to reconsider due to the many risks involved in the perilous journey. The channel is one of the busiest waterways in the world, with more than 600 commercial ships sailing through it daily, and weather conditions are often difficult due to strong winds that prevail 120 days a year, their Friday statement said.
"It's dangerous even when the sea seems calm," they said.
The Boulogne public prosecutor's office opened an investigation, suspecting intentional homicide, the prefect of the Pas-de-Calais region, Jacques Billant, said while visiting the site of the tragedy.
