Nearly 250 migrants were rescued at sea overnight from Friday to Saturday and during the day on Saturday after finding themselves in difficulty trying to cross the Channel
These 243 migrants were collected and dropped off at the quayside in the ports of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Dunkirk and Calais, where they were “taken care of by the border police (PAF) and the departmental fire and rescue service ( SDIS) ”, writes the maritime prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea.
The Gris-Nez operational surveillance and rescue center (CROSS) “has engaged numerous maritime resources” for these rescue operations, specifies the prefecture, pointing out the dangerousness of this sector with strong winds, heavy traffic and water temperature at present. falling.
Increase in crossing attempts
Friday, the maritime prefect had noted “a new acceleration” in November of attempted crossings, which had already doubled in the past three months.
Its services had recorded 15,400 departure attempts and 3,500 passengers rescued over the first eight months of the year. “Today, we have more than doubled these figures: we are at 31,500 migrants having left the coasts and 7,800 migrants having been rescued,” Philippe Dutrieux said on Friday.
The human toll for 2021 has gone from one death on August 31 to a total of “seven dead or missing”.
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