Women die trying to cross channel from France to UK

French authorities said that two women died when the boat carrying about 80 immigrants trying to cross from France to England capsized near Calais.

“We regret to state that we found two dead people, two women,” Christophe Marx, an official from the Pas-de-Calais administration, said on Sunday. he said.

Authorities rescued the others, he said.

The deaths underline the challenges Britain and France face in tackling small boats carrying migrants illegally across the Channel, as concerns over migrant numbers drive support for parties such as Reform UK and France’s National Rally (RN).

In April, Britain said it would pay France up to 660 million pounds ($A1.2 billion) under a three-year border security deal to try to restrict illegal migrant crossings through the canal, with some of the funding contingent on results.