Migrant dies in Good Friday channel crossing as hundreds of others attempt to cross to UK

A tragic event unfolded this morning in the English Channel, where a migrant lost their life while trying to reach the UK in a small boat. GB News reported that the person’s body was brought into Dover Harbour along with several other migrants who were rescued from the same boat around 7 a.m.

The Border Force vessel, named Hurricane, arrived at Dover about an hour and a half later. GB News cameras captured the moment a Coastguard team boarded another vessel called Typhoon, carrying a backboard stretcher to assist with the situation. A team of coastguards was later seen taking the stretcher, with the deceased, to a blue forensic tent near the lifeboat station in Dover.

So far, the exact cause of death has not been confirmed. However, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), a UN agency, keeps track of how many migrants die trying to cross the Channel. According to them, at least 78 people have died in 2024 alone, making it the deadliest year on record. Since the small boat crossings began in 2018, at least 225 lives have been lost.

This year, 11 migrants have died trying to make the crossing. While many deaths are due to drowning, others have resulted from suffocation or being crushed on overcrowded boats. There has also been a rise in violent incidents between migrants fighting to get on board, with some sustaining serious injuries, including stab wounds.

Elsewhere in the Channel today, the Border Force and the Dover lifeboat are dealing with at least three other migrant boats that have entered UK waters.

A Home Office spokesperson responded to the situation, saying the government is focused on ending these dangerous crossings, which put lives at risk and weaken the country’s border security. They added that efforts are being made to increase deportations, boost border enforcement, and crack down on illegal work to stop criminal gangs from luring people onto boats with false promises of jobs in the UK.