Man found dead on French beach after Channel crossing attempt

A man in his twenties was found dead on a beach in northern France on Saturday morning after a small boat carrying migrants was prevented from leaving for the English Channel, French coastguard officials said.

The body was discovered on Sainte-Cécile beach, near Le Touquet, at about 08:00 local time, the coastguard said. An investigation is to be opened to establish the circumstances of the incident.

French authorities had deployed a rescue team overnight to monitor people boarding a makeshift vessel. The coastguard described the boarding as chaotic and said five men were treated by firefighters for signs of hypothermia.

The vessel was stopped from departing. A small craft and local fire and rescue units searched the area but found nobody in the water, the coastguard said. The man’s body was later found on the beach.

In the week ending 8 November, 903 people arrived in the UK in 14 small boats, according to the latest UK government figures cited by the BBC. A further 624 people were prevented from making the crossing.