A migrant holds a smartphone as others try to board an inflatable dinghy in an attempt to cross the English Channel, on the beach of the Slack dunes in Wimereux, France, September 4, 2024. Benoit Tessier / REUTERS

At least eight people died during a failed attempt to cross the English Channel from northern France, French maritime authorities said Sunday.

The incident occurred Saturday just before midnight when authorities spotted a boat, carrying dozens, in distress near a beach in the northern town of Ambleteuse.

A French rescue ship was deployed to the area and rescue services offered medical assistance to 53 migrants on the beach, a statement from the French maritime authorities in charge of the Channel and the North Sea said.

"Despite the emergency care provided, eight people have died," the statement said.

No people were discovered during the search at sea, it added.

Six people were taken to hospital "in relative emergency," including a 10-month-old baby with hypothermia, Jacques Billant, the Pas-de-Calais prefect, told French media on Sunday. He said survivors of the accident come from Eritrea, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt and Iran.

Survivors of the tragedy have been taken to the sports hall in Ambleteuse, according to a statement from the prefecture of Pas-de-Calais region. Prosecutor's office in Boulogne-sur-mer has opened an investigation into the accident.

The incident Saturday occurred nearly two weeks after a boat carrying migrants ripped apart in the English Channel as they attempted to reach Britain from northern France, plunging dozens into the treacherous waterway and leaving 13 dead, officials said.

British officials were quick to express sadness over another English Channel incident.

"It's awful,'' Foreign Secretary David Lammy told the BBC. "It's a further loss of life."

The new Labour Party government has pledged to crack down on criminal gangs plying the channel trade and had discussed with European partners "how we go after those gangs, in co-operation upstream.''

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will be in Italy on Monday for talks with counterpart Giorgia Meloni about her efforts to tackle the problem "and the work they have done, particularly, with Albania.''

Starmer is interested the policy, under which Tirana will accept asylum seekers on Italy's behalf while their claims are processed.

On Saturday, French coast guard and navy vessels rescued 200 people from the treacherous waters in the Pas-de-Calais area, according to a report sent by French maritime authorities in charge of the Channel and the North Sea.

They said they observed 18 attempts of boat departures from France to Britain on Saturday.

Before Saturday's accident, at least 43 migrants had died or gone missing while trying to cross to the U.K. this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

In July, four migrants died while attempting the crossing on an inflatable boat that capsized and punctured. Five others, including a child, died in another attempt in April. Five dead were recovered from the sea or found washed up along a beach after a migrant boat ran into difficulties in the dark and winter cold of January.

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