A body having “stayed a long time in the water” was discovered Friday afternoon off Calais (Pas-de-Calais) and an investigation was opened to identify it and seek the causes of death.
“A fishing vessel unfortunately discovered a body in its nets off Calais. The ship immediately reported this discovery to the Gris-Nez Regional Operational Surveillance and Rescue Center (CROSS) ”, said around 6.30 pm the maritime prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea.
“Not possible” to know if it is a migrant
The Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation, entrusted to the maritime gendarmerie.
“This body has obviously been in the water for a very long time,” said Boulogne-sur-Mer deputy prosecutor Philippe Sabatier, specifying that it was “not possible” at this stage to say whether it was whether or not he was a migrant.
“An examination of the body must be carried out by a forensic doctor, in order to know whether the facts are criminal or not, and to try to determine the possible causes”. “DNA samples will also be taken” in order to identify the victim, of whom “we know nothing”, he added.
Two weeks after the deadly shipwreck that left 27 dead
The discovery comes just over two weeks after the deadly sinking on November 24, which claimed the lives of 17 men, seven women, two teenagers and a child, en route to the English coast aboard a makeshift boat. .
Since the end of 2018, illegal crossings of the Channel by migrants seeking to reach the United Kingdom have increased.
From January to November 25, 2021, the Maritime Prefecture recorded 1,281 events linked to crossings to the United Kingdom by sea involving 33,083 people. The French authorities rescued 8,284 castaways. A total of 30 people died and 4 were missing.
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