A seven-year-old girl has died in a shipwreck in the English Channel between France and the United Kingdom

A seven-year-old girl died on Sunday (3) when a small boat carrying 16 migrants sank. People were aiming to reach the United Kingdom from northern France.

The boat capsized in the Aa Channel, a few kilometers from the mouth of the waterway on the English Channel, the Northern Territory City Council said in a statement that the boat was “not of suitable dimensions to carry so many people”.

Police and firefighters rushed to the scene after a person in the area raised the alarm, the city added.

The girl's parents, who were traveling with three other children, were taken to a hospital in Dunkirk, the same source said.

Another couple, two men and six small children were on board the “apparently stolen” boat. All were taken to hospital.

According to French authorities, 12 migrants died trying to cross the English Channel in 2023.

In 2023, 29,437 migrants arrived on English shores illegally, compared to 45,774 in 2022, a record year, according to data from the British Home Office.

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