French and British rescue crews helped 157 migrants after the engine of a small boat attempting to cross the English Channel to the UK caught fire, French authorities said.
The French maritime prefecture for the Channel and North Sea said the vessel had departed France on Monday night. It said five people were rescued overnight, while the others aboard initially declined help offered by French patrol boats.
Authorities said they did not intervene further at that stage because of the structural fragility of the type of boat used for Channel crossings. The situation changed on Tuesday morning when the engine caught fire and the condition of the vessel deteriorated rapidly, according to the prefecture.
French and UK rescue craft were sent to the scene. Two French vessels rescued 103 people, while the RNLI Eastbourne lifeboat and UK Border Force vessels BSC Contender and BSC Courageous rescued another 54.
All 157 people were being taken to Boulogne-sur-Mer for treatment. French authorities and the UK government said there had been no reported deaths or injuries.
UK response and crossing figures
A UK government spokesperson said the Border Security Command had been alerted to a migrant boat in distress in French waters. The spokesperson said the incident demonstrated the dangers involved in small-boat journeys and that the UK would continue working with France and other partners to prevent such crossings.
The rescue came a day after Prime Minister Andy Burnham said his government would be relentless in reducing small-boat arrivals. During a visit to Dover, he said enforcement officers targeting people-smuggling gangs had been doubled on both sides of the Channel, while a system offering safe routes also needed to be developed.
Home Office figures cited in the source show that 14,526 people crossed the Channel in small boats between January 1 and August 1, 2026, a decline of 43% from the same period a year earlier. The UK and France agreed a three-year £662 million deal in April intended to curb illegal crossings, including plans for additional French policing resources and surveillance equipment.
Source: BBC News
