LILLE: An eight-year-old boy and a woman, who are both believed to be Turkish nationals, have died off France’s northern coast while attempting to cross the Channel into Britain, French authorities said on Wednesday.

The latest tragedy, which took place overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, brings to five the number of would-be asylum seekers who have died over the last 10 days trying to reach Britain, according to a tally based on official figures.

The woman and child were found dead in an overloaded boat carrying some 80 migrants who requested help from a French navy vessel, said France’s Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea.

The small boats used by smugglers to take would-be refugees across the Channel are often so overloaded that passengers die of suffocation or are crushed to death. The boat set off from the northern town of Gravelines, and a French navy vessel was immediately deployed to monitor it. French authorities do not intervene once boats are afloat except for rescue purposes, citing safety concerns. The French military intervened when authorities were informed that two passengers on board — a woman and a child — were unconscious.

They were pronounced dead by a medical team and taken to the port city of Calais, along with 10 other passengers who had requested assistance, the maritime prefecture said.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2025