LONDON, Dec 14 (Reuters) – A small boat carrying migrants off has sunk off the southeastern coast of England, killing some of those on board, the BBC reported on Wednesday.
“It’s understood there have been fatalities after a migrant boat sank in the Channel. This has not yet been confirmed by the authorities,” the BBC’s local reporter said on Twitter.
A spokesman at the Ministry of Defence confirmed an incident was ongoing. The Coastguard Agency said it was coordinating the response, sending lifeboats, rescue teams and helicopters to “an incident involving a small boat off Kent”.
Temperatures have plunged across Britain, bringing snow to some parts of the country. The temperature was logged at 2 degrees Celsius in a nearby town.
Small boats, often inflatable dinghies, travel regularly across the Channel carrying migrants from France to Britain.
The number who arrived through that route hit a record level of more than 40,000 this year.
In November 2021, 27 people died while attempting to cross the Channel in an inflatable dinghy – the worst recorded accident of its kind in the Channel
“The incident is ongoing and we have no further information,” the Coastguard Agency said.
Reporting by Kate Holton and Farouq Suleiman; editing by Elizabeth Piper and William James
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