Girl, 7, dies in Channel after small boat carrying 16 migrants to UK capsized
A SCHOOLGIRL died this morning after the boat she and her family were on capsized on its way to the UK.
The girl was among 16 migrants who had to be pulled from the water, but tragically died, French authorities say.
Authorities say the tragedy struck as the boat tried to cross the English Channel on Sunday.
The youngster was just seven.
Authorities said the small boat "was not appropriately sized to carry so many people".
They said that as a result the vessel capsized soon after people boarded in the Aa canal - a few kilometres from the coast.
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The girl's parents, who were also travelling with three more of their children, were raced to hospital in Dunkirk.
It comes just days after the bodies of three migrants were pulled from the Channel.
The asylum seekers were pronounced dead after falling into the water off the coast of Cap Gris-Nez, northern France, on Thursday afternoon.
Up to 180 people were pulled to safety by rescue operators, according to French authorities.
A probe is ongoing.
Patrick Leleu, deputy prosecutor at the judicial court of Boulogne-sur-Mer, said at the time: "I can confirm the death of three migrants who fell into the water this afternoon off the coast of Cap Gris Nez.
"The investigation is ongoing."
It comes as dozens of migrants made the treacherous crossing to the UK today in strong winds and also thick fog.
The last fatalities in the Channel happened on January 14 when five migrants died while trying to make the treacherous journey across the 21-mile Dover Straits.
Home Office figures showed that more than 2,000 migrants have arrived in the UK this year after making the journey from France.
This week, they stated there were no new arrivals on Tuesday or Monday this week, but 290 asylum seekers arrived in five boats on Sunday.
It comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is scrambling to get deportation flights going to Rwanda in a bid to deter small boat journeys.
'Bigger than Dover population'
By Kate Ferguson
THE number of small boat migrants coming to Britain since 2018 is bigger than the population of Dover.
A total of 116,577 people have turned up on dinghies, Home Office stats revealed.
That surpasses the 116,400 residents of the Channel port.
Labour’s Shadow Immigration Minister, Stephen Kinnock, said yesterday: “It is a shocking indictment of the Conservatives’ failure which has allowed criminal smuggling gangs to take hold along the coast.
“That failure is costing our country billions, while leaving our borders insecure.”
PM Rishi Sunak has made stopping the small boat migrants one of his pledges.
But his plan to deport many of them to Rwanda has been snarled up in legal challenges and parliamentary scrutiny.
He is still hopeful of being able to get a flight off the ground before the election.
Sir Keir Starmer says he would stem the tide by doing more to smash the criminal gangs behind the evil trade.
But the Government insists it is already doing that.
It says Labour’s opposition to the Rwanda plan shows the party is weak on border control.