It is believed that more than 20 refugees died after the ship sank in the strait; Boris Johnson will hold the Cobra Conference-Latest News | World News

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “It is heartbreaking to hear that more ordinary people are killed on the tragic journey to Britain in search of safety.
“How many such tragedies must we see before the government fundamentally changes its approach and promises to ambitiously expand safety routes for men, women, and children who desperately need protection?
“Every day, people are forced to flee their homes and it is not their own fault. It is time to end the cruel and ineffective strategy of trying to punish or expel those who are trying to seek safety in our country.”

Jean-Marc Puiseso, the head of the Ports of Calais and Boulogne, told BBC News that he knew there were 50 people on board. “I heard that 30 people have died so far, but five or six have been found.”

Downing Street stated that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair the Cobra Emergency Committee meeting to deal with the deaths of immigrants in the English Channel.

Reuters reported that the mayor of Calais, Natacha Bouchart (Natacha Bouchart) told BFM television that the death toll is now 27. A few minutes later, another mayor set the death toll at 24.

The local coast guard said they could not confirm the death toll, adding that the rescue department found about 20 people in the water, of which only two were conscious.

They estimated that about 30 people were on board before the boat capsized.

Unconfirmed reports claim that an inflated dirty ship capsized near Calais. The rescue operation is still ongoing, and the French and British authorities are involved in finding survivors.

According to Agence France-Presse, the French Ministry of the Interior said in a statement that after a fisherman issued an accident alert, a French patrol boat found dead bodies and unconscious people in the water. The police subsequently said in a statement that “over 20” people had died.

Local authorities said that three helicopters and three ships have been deployed to participate in the search.

The Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, who went to the scene, wrote on Twitter that “many people” were killed in the incident, adding that “the criminal nature of the smugglers who organized these crossing points cannot be affected. Enough condemnation”.

Care4Calais, a charity working in the north France, Helping refugees, wrote on Twitter:

According to French media reports, it is understood that more than 20 people have died after their ship sank in the strait.

BBC News reported that “at least 24 people” died.The picture comes from a speech by a local mayor France.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex wrote on Twitter: “The shipwreck in the strait is a tragedy. My heart is with many missing and wounded people. They are crimes that take advantage of suffering and suffering. Victims of smugglers.”