A dinghy carrying more than 170 migrants has capsized in the English Channel after its engine caught fire, according to Sky News. The incident happened during an attempt to cross the Channel towards the UK, and it quickly turned into a large rescue operation involving authorities on both sides of the water. In the end, those on board were accounted for and taken back to France rather than reaching the British coast.
According to the broadcaster, the people on the dinghy were rescued by French vessels, with assistance from British Border Security Command and the RNLI, the lifeboat service. The combined response brought together French and British resources at sea, reflecting how closely the two countries now coordinate on incidents involving small boats in the Channel. After being pulled from the water, the migrants were taken back to France instead of continuing their journey.
The trigger for the emergency was a fire on the boat itself. The dinghy's engine caught fire early in the morning, while the vessel was still in French waters and in the middle of an attempt to make the crossing. What had begun as a journey towards Britain became a dangerous situation once the engine was ablaze and the heavily loaded boat was left without reliable power in open water.
French authorities have since detailed what happened in the hours leading up to the incident, in an account relayed by Sky's correspondent Graeme Stothard. They said their boats had been tracking the dinghy overnight, keeping watch on it as it set off and moved through the water. That monitoring meant the vessel was already under close observation well before the fire broke out on board.
Even before the blaze, part of the group had already needed help. According to the French account, five people on board had required a rescue earlier on, and those individuals were taken back to France. Their removal from the dinghy was an early sign of how precarious the crossing had become for the large number of people crowded onto a single small boat in the Channel.
The rest of those on board, however, chose to press on. French authorities said that after that initial rescue, the remaining migrants refused help and carried on towards the UK. That decision left the majority of the group still at sea on the dinghy, continuing the crossing despite the risks, until the engine fire finally forced the situation to a head and prompted the wider rescue.
The French also explained why they had not intervened more forcefully at an earlier stage. According to their account, they did not step in further because forcing migrants onto rescue vessels can prove even more dangerous than letting the boat carry on. It is an approach that underlines the difficult judgments authorities face during Channel crossings, where any intervention can carry its own risks for the people on board.