Four people die in Channel small-boat sinking | UK news

Two men and two women died when a small boat sank in the English Channel between France and England, French local authorities said.

Local authorities in Calais said: “A taxi boat sank today. The situation is still being assessed and may change.”

Rescue teams were called to Équihen-Plage early Thursday morning, French media outlet La Voix du Nord reported.

Last year, smugglers were using motorboats to pick up migrants along the coast of northern France and Belgium. Authorities call these “taxi boats.”

Wednesday’s incident came a day after 102 people had difficulties trying to cross the English Channel and had to be rescued.

In another recent incident, two people died while trying to cross the English Channel in early April.

The use of taxi boats by people smugglers is controversial because taxis collect people from different points along the coast rather than a single starting point towards the sea. Some of these taxi boats They start their journey from Belgium and then we move along the French coast.

Britain and France are negotiating a new agreement to stop small boats from crossing the Channel after failing to renew the agreement that expired on March 31.

According to data from the Oxford University Migration Observatory, approximately 2,200 refugees and migrants crossed the Channel, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, into the United Kingdom in the first two months of 2026. About 41,500 people made the switch last year.