Migrant Boat Seen Trying to Cross English Channel A Day After Tragedy
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Just a day after 12 migrants died in a failed attempted crossing of the English Channel, another boat carrying several dozen people appears to be making another attempt from northern France on Wednesday, seemingly trying to head toward Britain.
AP journalists on a beach in Wimereux, on the northern French coastline and close to the site of Tuesday’s deadly sinking, broadcast live video of an inflatable boat crowded with people, seemingly migrants, out at sea.
The boat is so laden that some of those aboard, crammed side-by-side on the inflatable tubes, have their legs over the sides.
Many are wearing orange life preservers. A small patrol boat flying a French flag approached the inflatable at one point and a crew person aboard then tossed more orange life vests -about half a dozen of them- to people aboard the vessel, who caught them.
Another larger patrol vessel with a French tricolor stripe on its side -identified by maritime authorities as the French Gendarmerie's coastal patrol vessel Armoise- is shadowing the inflatable from a distance away.
The French maritime agency that oversees that stretch of the channel confirmed to the AP that an operation was underway to monitor the inflatable, in case it runs into difficulty or the people aboard request assistance. The agency said that the Armoise was involved in that operation, accompanied by its own smaller boat that it carries with it.