More than 150 migrants have been rescued after the boat they have been utilizing to cross the Channel caught fire on Tuesday morning, French authorities have stated.
The boat was making an attempt to cross to the UK when its engine caught fire, in accordance with the French maritime prefecture of the Channel and North Sea.
It stated 157 individuals have been rescued and are being taken to port in Boulogne-sur-Mer. There aren’t any reviews of anybody having been injured or killed.
It comes only a day after Prime Minister Andy Burnham pledged his authorities might be “relentless” in curbing the variety of individuals arriving in the UK on small boats.
French authorities stated the boat left France on Monday night time.
Overnight “five people on board the vessel required rescue… the remaining people on board refused the assistance offered by the French patrol boats”, the French maritime prefecture stated.
“Determined to reach the United Kingdom, migrants crossing the Channel in small boats refused assistance offered by French emergency service, accepting it only in situations of extreme emergency,” it stated in a press release.
Because of the “structural fragility” of boats used to cross the Channel, it stated they determined to not intervene additional at that stage.
But this morning the engine caught fire and the “vessel’s integrity deteriorated very rapidly”.
Rescue boats went to the scene from France and the UK, together with the RNLI Eastbourne lifeboat and the UK Border Force vessels BSC Contender and BSC Courageous.
Two French boats rescued 103 migrants and the British boats rescued 54.
All of them are being taken to Boulogne-sur-Mer for remedy, the place they’re anticipated to reach there at 12:30 native time (11:30 BST) on Tuesday.
Earlier, the UK Coastguard stated: “A vessel caught fire earlier this morning whilst in the French search and rescue region. UK vessels and a lifeboat are assisting.”
An RNLI spokesperson stated Eastbourne’s all-weather lifeboat launched at 06:00 BST on Tuesday.
