Published: Less than 2 hours ago
full screen Life jackets, sleeping bags and a broken inflatable boat on a beach in northern France. Archive image. Photo: Rafael Yaghobzadeh/AP/TT
Close to 190 migrants who tried to cross the English Channel during the day on Saturday were rescued in various efforts by French authorities.
The migrants were on their way from France to England in small boats. The number attempting the perilous journey across the busy canal increases every year.
The French Ministry of the Interior estimates that 20,000 people tried to cross the Channel between January 1 and June 13 this year, an increase of 68 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.
British authorities have released similar figures and in late August a peak was made of 1,295 people who were discovered trying to cross over from France in one day.