Deadly incident is the third fatal English Channel crossing attempt this year.
A seven-year-old girl has drowned after a small boat carrying 16 people trying to get to the United Kingdom capsized in northern France, according to French authorities.
The boat overturned on Sunday after the passengers boarded it in the Aa Canal, several kilometres from the waterway’s opening into the English Channel, the prefecture in France’s Nord department said.
Firefighters and policemen rushed to the scene after a witness raised an alarm.
The local authority said in a statement that the vehicle “was not appropriately sized to carry so many people”.
It said that the “apparently stolen” boat was carrying the girl’s parents, who were travelling with three more of their children. Another couple, two men and six young children were also on the boat, and all of them have been taken to hospital in Dunkirk.
This is the third fatal crossing attempt this year. In January, five people including a 14-year-old Syrian boy were killed as they tried to board a boat south of the port city of Calais in freezing temperatures.
Interesting choice of word. ‘Killed’ implies that there was a human action that caused the death. Considering that the boat was stolen, overloaded and that the parents were present, who does Al Jazeera hold responsible?
The coyote, or whatever you call their equivalent, killed them. Someone organized this, and they routinely capsize ships so the local coast guard has to rescue them, and bring them to the EU.
Its fucked, and laws create a perverse incentive.
Uh, in this case, they were seemingly trying to escape the EU
Right sorry. Bring them to England.
