40 rescued from distressed vessel in English Channel
The French Maritime Prefecture revealed Monday that it has rescued 40 people from a distressed vessel sailing in the English Channel and provided them with aid at the port of Calais.
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An inflatable boat carrying migrants across the Channel on 22 July, 2021, off the coast of Dover (Getty Images)
The French Maritime Prefecture of the English Channel and the North Sea reported that French rescuers saved 40 people on a distressed ship sailing in the Strait of Dover between the UK and France.
"On Sunday night, December 26, to early Monday, December 27, 2021, the regional operational center for monitoring and rescuing (CROSS), based on the Gris-Nez cape, was informed about a vessel in distress that was in the Dunkirk sector. After that, the CROSS sent a state Flamant patrolling ship of the national navy, which picked up 40 people aboard," the prefecture said in a statement published on Twitter.
[#Opération] de recherche et de sauvetage de 11 naufragés dans le détroit du Pas-de-Calais par le PSP Cormoran de la @MarineNationale sous la coordination du #CROSS Gris-Nez ➡️https://t.co/udx4oFOBTK pic.twitter.com/h6wOpR7kFy
— Préfecture maritime Manche et mer du Nord (@premarmanche) December 16, 2021
Those rescued were taken to the port of Calais, where civil workers provided aid. Those included border guards, firefighters, and emergency service workers.
As reported on November 21, 243 migrants were rescued crossing the Channel; a few days earlier, 272 more were also rescued, according to the French Maritime Prefecture.
In the same month, Gerald Darmanin, the French Interior Minister, said that some 31 migrants drowned as a boat crossing the Strait of Dover sank. Four suspects involved in organizing the illegal transfer of migrants were arrested.
