Migrants rescued from water by lifeboat crews while crossing English Channel

Migrants who fell overboard from small boats in the Channel have been rescued from the sea by lifeboat crews this morning.

i understands that Border Force and the Coastguard rescued 17 people from the water, with all of them recovered safely and taken ashore for routine health and safety checks.

A spokesperson from the RNLI said four vessels scrambled to the scene located “casualties” in the water, who were all thought to have been accounted for.

The skipper of a British fishing vessel nearby overheard a mayday request from the UK Coastguard around 9am this morning after people plunged into the Channel just inside UK waters.

RNLI lifeboats were seen bringing dozens of migrants to shore at Dover on Thursday, meaning the number of people crossing the English Channel on small boats in the last five-and-a-half years could have passed 100,000.

“This morning (Thursday 10 August) all-weather RNLI lifeboats from Dover, Ramsgate and Dungeness, along with Littlestone RNLI’s inshore lifeboat, were tasked to an incident in the Channel by HM Coastguard,” an RNLI spokesperson said.

“On arrival at the scene, some casualties were found to be in the water. All casualties are believed to be accounted for and were brought to safety by the RNLI’s volunteer crews.”

An eyewitness at Dover said there more than 40 people appeared to be brought ashore on board two lifeboats, which had attended a dinghy out in the Channel.

They included women and children, with one woman carrying a small child in her arms.

More than 15,000 people have made the perilous crossing to the UK so far this year, with a record 46,000 making the voyage last year, a 60 per cent surge on the numbers travelling in 2021.

In December, four people died after a migrant boat that capsized in the Channel.

(This story is being updated)