French coastguard rescues nearly 70 people trying to cross Channel days after four died
It comes as smugglers use a new tactic to avoid police - sending dinghies along the coast with just a driver to pick people up from pre-arranged beaches
The French coastguard has rescued nearly 70 people after their dinghy broke down in the English Channel, less than a week after four people died attempting the dangerous crossing.
Boats carrying migrants set off towards the UK early on Monday morning from Belgium and France, the maritime prefecture said.
After one of the dinghies broke down, 21 people were rescued and taken to the port of Calais.
French authorities continued to monitor the boat and then rescued the other 47 people who were still on board.
Around the same time, four people had to be rescued as they attempted to climb onto a so-called “taxi boat” at Dunkirk.
The new people smuggling tactic, designed to avoid detection by French police, involves dinghies travelling along the coast with just a driver to pre-designated beaches where migrants enter the water to climb on board.
Two men and two women died as they attempted to climb onto a “taxi boat” at Equihen-Plage, near Boulogne-sur-Mer, on Thursday.
Thirty-eight people were returned to the French shore after the incident south of Boulogne-sur-Mer near Calais, but 74 migrants travelled on to the UK.
Two children were among those taken to hospital as a precaution, and another person was treated for hypothermia.
Sudanese national Alnour Mohamed Ali, 27, who is the alleged pilot of the boat, appeared before Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.
He indicated a not guilty plea to the charge of endangering life, telling the magistrates: “I didn’t do that.”
So far this year, some 5,337 people have arrived in the UK via small boat, according to official figures, including 201 in three boats on Monday.