French Navy rescues 85 migrants trying to cross the Channel

The French navy rescued 85 migrants trying to cross the Channel from France to England on Wednesday, December 4, maritime authorities said, the latest in a deadly series of dangerous crossings.

One of “numerous” migrant boats that set out to sea called for help after hitting a sandbank off the Pas-de-Calais region, France’s Channel and North Sea maritime prefecture said in a statement.

A navy tugboat saved 80 passengers from that boat and five more from a second migrant vessel at another location, it said.

The migrants were brought back to land at Boulogne-sur-Mer and attended to by emergency services and border police.

More than 70 migrants have died trying to cross the Channel to Britain this year, according to the Pas-de-Calais authorities.

Tens of thousands more have reached Britain, whose government has vowed to crack down on people-smuggling gangs.

In Germany on Wednesday, police carried out pre-dawn raids targeting an alleged Syrian and Iraqi-Kurdish criminal network accused of smuggling migrants by boat from France to Britain.