Channel crossing: five people including child die during failed attempt to cross the English Channel in small boat

Five people have died in an attempt to cross the English Channel, French authorities have confirmed.

The boat, which was carrying around 110 migrants according to Reuters, was rescued by a French navy tug following the failed attempt. While around 100 people have been rescued, three man, a woman and a child all died. Local media reports that the child who died was a four-year-old girl.

The French Coastguard said: "Around 5am this morning, a small boat (with more than 110 people) set sail from German beach (Wimereux). After an initial stranding on a sandbank, the boat set out to sea again. A crowd movement apparently occurred in the overloaded boat, causing several victims."

Their deaths came just hours after the government’s controversial Rwanda bill passed through the House of Lords. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has hailed the plan to send asylum seekers to the African country while their application is being processed as a deterrent to those attempting small boat crossings over the Channel.

Upon the bill passing, Sunak said: “We introduced the Rwanda Bill to deter vulnerable migrants from making perilous crossings and break the business model of the criminal gangs who exploit them. The passing of this legislation will allow us to do that and make it very clear that if you come here illegally, you will not be able to stay.”

Illegal Migration Minister Michael Tomlinson told Good morning Britain that news of the most recent fatal small boat crossing was “absolutely chilling”. He said on the ITV morning show: “It is absolutely chilling to hear that. We have had fatalities now in the Channel for nine consecutive months.”