Two women migrants die off French coast seeking to reach UK: officials

Two women died Sunday while trying to reach Britain from northern France in a small boat, officials said.

The would-be migrants were among 82 people packed on the boat that “ran aground” on a beach at Neufchatel-Hardelot, about 12 kilometres (seven miles) south of the port of Boulogne, said Christophe Marx, a regional government official.

At least eight people have now died this year on small boats trying to make the risky trip across the English Channel to the southern coast of the UK. At least 29 migrants died in the boats last year.

Britain and France last month signed a new three-year deal on security operations to stop the crossings. France will increase the number of police and gendarmes patrolling the coast while the British government will increase its contribution to the cost, according to an AFP tally based on official French and British sources.

According to French officials, the number of arrivals in Britain so far this year has been drastically cut from 2025.