A teenage boy who survived a migrant boat sinking that left at least six people dead in the English Channel has been arrested, after being rescued and taken back to France.
He is among four people being detained as part of an investigation into offences including manslaughter and criminal association.
The investigation was announced as official figures showed that another 444 people arrived in small boats on Wednesday, pushing the total for this year over 17,000.
A pregnant woman and young children were among those rescued, as crossings surged just days after Saturday’s disaster.
French authorities said the Sudanese boy, aged 16 or 17, and a Sudanese man in his twenties were “suspected of having actively participated in the transport of passengers in dangerous conditions in exchange for a preferential rate for their own passage”.
They were among 38 survivors who were taken to safety in France following the sinking in the early hours of Saturday morning, while 23 more were rescued and brought ashore in the UK.
At least six people, thought to be Afghan refugees, died in the incident, and authorities fear that other victims may have drowned but remain missing at sea.
Two Iraqi men who were allegedly part of the smuggling network that organised the crossing have also been detained on French soil.
The specialist Junalco organised crime unit, which leads major people-smuggling investigations in France, said the sinking happened around 12 miles from the French coast on the night of 11 to 12 August.
“Investigations at this stage have made it possible to establish that the makeshift boat had suffered engine damage and had torn at sea, when most of the passengers did not have lifejackets,” a spokesperson said.
“Almost all of [those on board] were of Afghan nationality, and had passed through the ‘Jungle’ camp in Calais before setting off from a beach further from the town.”
A passing commercial ship saw the dinghy sinking and called the emergency services at around 4.20am local time (3.20am BST), authorities said, and several nearby ships were diverted to the area.
A navy tugboat, a French rescue crew, two British rescue boats and a helicopter were deployed to locate the boat, but several people were already in the water.
One person was declared dead after being pulled from the sea and evacuated by helicopter to a hospital in Calais, while another five bodies were recovered.
Searches continued into Saturday afternoon, but no other people were found, and survivors’ accounts suggested others may have boarded the vessel in France.
Junalco said it had made a request to British law enforcement for assistance with its ongoing investigation, following interviews with survivors in the UK.
More than 50 people are thought to have drowned attempting to cross the Channel since 2018, while others have lost their lives while trying to board lorries and trains in France, or to walk through the Channel Tunnel.
A family who were rescued by the RNLI and brought ashore in Dungeness on Wednesday— (AFP via Getty)
On 10 August, several people were rescued from a sinking dinghy that had reached British waters. The RNLI said it had pulled several people from the water but believed everyone was accounted for.
The previous day, French authorities reported that six children suffering from hypothermia had been taken to hospital after their boat went down off the coast near Sangatte.
More than 17,200 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats so far this year, around 15 per cent down on the same point in 2022, when the number had passed 20,000.
Weeks of unseasonably windy weather and rough seas have played a part in suppressing attempts to cross, but high numbers are expected if calm and fine conditions continue in the coming days.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak has made “stopping the boats” one of his top five priorities ahead of the next general election, but government attempts to deter crossings have so far failed amid a lack of alternative safe and legal routes for asylum seekers.
Afghans now represent the most common nationality among those making the journey, following the collapse of resettlement schemes after the 2021 Taliban takeover.
There has been an increase in Sudanese asylum seekers after conflict broke out in Sudan earlier this year and the government refused to set up a route for people fleeing the country.
A UK government spokesperson said: “These deaths are devastating and our thoughts are with the victims’ families and friends at this time.
“This incident is sadly another reminder of the extreme dangers of crossing the Channel in small boats and how vital it is that we break the people smugglers’ business model and stop the boats.
“Support has been provided to the French authorities to progress their judicial inquiry.”
