Lille, France: A boat carrying migrants heading to Britain sank in the Channel early Saturday, killing one person while five others were in a "serious condition", French maritime officials said.
Four French ships and a helicopter plus two British vessels were involved in the rescue effort off Sangatte in northern France, they said.
About 50 migrants were rescued, some of them by the British vessels, they added.
More than 100,000 migrants have crossed the Channel on small boats from France to southeast England since Britain began publicly recording the arrivals in 2018, official figures revealed on Friday.
French authorities have stepped up patrols and other deterrent measures after London agreed in March to send Paris hundreds of millions of euros annually towards the effort.
The route across one of the world's busiest shipping lanes has repeatedly proved perilous, with several capsizings and scores of migrants drowning in the waters over the last decade.
Five migrants died at sea and four went missing while trying to cross over to Britain from France last year.
In November 2021, 27 migrants died in a boat capsize in the Channel.
