Four people, including a two-year-old child, have died while attempting to cross the English Channel, according to French authorities.
The body of the child was found in a boat while three adults died in a separate incident in another boat, said Jacques Billant, prefect of the Pas-de-Calais region.
French interior minister Bruno Retailleau said the child was “trampled to death in a boat”, saying it was a “terrible tragedy” and people smugglers “have the blood of these people on their hands”.
Rescuers found the child in the boat on Saturday morning and an injured person was airlifted to hospital in Boulogne, the AFP news agency said.
It said the migrant boat, which was heading towards the UK, called for assistance and rescuers picked up 14 people on board, including the child.
The remaining passengers on the boat continued their journey.
“Our government will intensify the fight against these mafias who are getting rich by organising these crossings of death,” Retailleau said in a post on X.
UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, also posting on X, described the deaths as “appalling”, adding that “criminal smuggler gangs continue to organise these dangerous boat crossings”.
“The gangs do not care if people live or die – this is a terrible trade in lives,” she said.
She said she had been in touch with Reailleau on Saturday, and had met in Italy at the G7 meeting earlier this week, where they had discussed the matter.
An action plan agreed at that meeting “means new international joint investigative teams to pursue the gangs, finance and supply chains,” she had previously said.
On Tuesday, the country’s prime minister, Michel Barnier, said France needed a stricter immigration policy.
Mr Barnier said he would be “ruthless” with people traffickers, adding that they “exploit misery and despair” and encourage undocumented asylum seekers to cross the Channel and the Mediterranean Sea.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer previously said he was “absolutely determined” to tackle the smuggling gangs facilitating the crossings but he would not commit to a timeframe for doing that.
