Aug. 4 (UPI) — More than 150 migrants were rescued after their boat caught fire and capsized while crossing the English Channel from France on Tuesday, officials said.
Maritime authorities first encountered the boat overnight, when five people were rescued and taken to Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France.
“The remaining people on board refused the assistance offered by French resources,” the French Maritime Prefecture for the Channel and the North Sea said in a statement.
The remaining 157 migrants were “determined to reach the United Kingdom” and refused assistance.
“Given the structural fragility of the systematically overcrowded boat, the decision was made not to force the migrants to board state rescue vessels, to avoid endangering their lives in the event of a shipwreck,” the French maritime authorities said.
But hours later, the engine caught fire, the “vessel’s integrity deteriorated very rapidly” and the boat capsized.
Three rescue boats were deployed and transported all of the 157 people to Boulogne-sur-Mer. No injuries or deaths were reported.
The incident comes a day after U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he would be “relentless” in combatting small boats crossing the Channel.
Also on Monday, Britain’s Reform U.K. party said, if elected, they would use the Royal Navy to turn back small boats.
So far this year, more than 752 people have arrived by boat in the U.K., the Guardian reported.
