Second migrant dies in two days trying to cross Channel
Some 15 people were rescued after a boat of around 40 people picked up more migrants on the coast of northern France
A migrant has died, after trying to cross the English Channel in an overloaded boat, just a day after another person died attempting the journey.
Some 15 people were rescued after a boat of around 40 people picked up more migrants on the coast of Gravelines, in northern France, at around 3am on today (Thursday).
Three people were pulled from the water and a group of 12 others on board the dinghy asked to be evacuated from it, the French coastguard said.
One person was unconscious and was declared dead despite attempts from a medical team to resuscitate them.
The rest of those rescued were taken to the port of Gravelines and taken care of by onshore emergency services.
French vessel the Ridens had been tasked with monitoring the overloaded boat after it first left west of the port of Dunkirk at 11.30pm on Wednesday.
It continues to monitor the boat with around 80 people on board as it travels towards the UK, the French coastguard said.
The authority added numerous departures of migrant boats were reported to its surveillance and rescue centre overnight.
An investigation has been opened by the Dunkirk public prosecutor's office.
The death comes after another migrant died after being pulled from the water on Wednesday.
A rescue operation was launched after reports that a group of people tried to board a dinghy and got into difficulty in the Equihen-Plage area, in northern France, shortly after 9am on Wednesday.
Two people were rescued from the water, with one suffering from hypothermia while the other was in cardiac arrest and did not survive.
Latest Home Office figures show 289 people arrived in the UK after making the journey in five boats on Wednesday, taking the provisional total for the year so far to 4,684.
A total of four deaths have been recorded by the French coastguard in its rescue operations in the Channel this year.
The International Organisation for Migration has reported several more migrant deaths which are believed to be linked to attempts to travel from mainland Europe to the UK this year.
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