Il Nuovo Postiglione - Boy among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossing accident: French authorities

France has long been a staging post for asylum seekers without visas hoping to cross the sea to Britain.

They pay smugglers thousands of dollars to board unstable and often overcrowded rubber dinghies to make the journey across one of the world's busiest shipping routes.

The dinghy left the area of Sangatte in northern France at around 5:15 am (0315 GMT) carrying 105 people, local prefect Francois Xavier Lauch said.

Its passengers called rescue services at around 8:00 am when they were some six kilometres (nearly four miles) off the coast, he added.

Two women in their thirties and a 10-year-old boy who were believed to be Eritrean died, seemingly in a crush as the dinghy was carrying too many people, he said.

The boy appeared to have been travelling with his mother and siblings.

Including the latest deaths, at least 22 people have died this year trying to cross the Channel, according to an AFP tally based on official French and British sources.

At least 29 lost their lives last year, according to the same tally.

- 'Most dangerous' time for crossings -

All other passengers on board asked to be rescued and were taken into care, the maritime prefecture said earlier, adding that the dinghy had not sunk.

Survivors disembarked a rescue boat at the port of Calais in the mid-morning, some on stretchers and in wheelchairs, many wrapped in emergency blankets, an AFP correspondent said. Children were among them.

"These days of autumn, when the weather is still good but the sea is already starting to become dangerous" are delicate periods, the prefect said.

"It is during these times that crossings are the most dangerous," he said.

Three bodies were found last week after chaotic so-called "taxi boat" departures of this kind in northern France.

"Taxi boat" refers to a dinghy that approaches the beach from the sea to pick up migrants in shallow waters off the beach.

Successive British governments have grappled with how to curb the crossings, a sensitive political issue in the United Kingdom, where the hard-right Reform UK party has surged in popularity on the back of growing anti-immigration sentiment.

A total of 781 people arrived in Britain on Wednesday after crossing the Channel on small boats -- a daily record for 2026 -- although overall numbers remain below previous years.

As of last week, some 18,609 people had crossed the Channel from France so far in 2026, down 42 percent year-on-year.

T.Barbieri--INP