Migrant dies and 72 others rescued from small boat trying to reach UK

One migrant has died and 72 others have been rescued from a small boat trying to reach the UK from France.

The boat - carrying more than 110 people - was being monitored in the Gravelines area of northern France overnight from Thursday to Friday by the French coastguard.

The crew found one person onboard who required CPR and dispatched a rescue helicopter, but the migrant was pronounced dead.

Three other people were found injured, one of whom needed urgent medical care.

It comes after 494 migrants arrived in the UK on Thursday, the first successful Channel crossing in 10 days.

However, the overall number of migrant boat crossings is down this year, according to analysis of government data by the Press Association.

Some 16,391 migrants have crossed the Channel so far, a fall of 43% from the same period last year.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood previously said she will not be "complacent" about the decreasing numbers.

She went on: "That is why I have boosted enforcement on the French beaches and overseas and introduced new legislation to tackle the pull factors that draw people here through unsafe and illegal routes."

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Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said his government will be "relentless" in tackling people-smuggling gangs.

He added: "We also need to build a system that offers safe routes for people as well, because that also takes away the selling point of the gangs."

(c) Sky News 2026: Migrant dies and 72 others rescued from small boat trying to reach UK