LONDON, Sept. 17. (DPA/EP) –
More than 600 migrants have arrived in Britain after nearly 40 were rescued from the English Channel when their ship sank off the coast of Kent, in the country’s southeast.
The Ministry of Defense has reported that 617 people crossed last Thursday in 14 boats, bringing the annual total to nearly 30,000. The figure shows that there were an average of 44 people per boat in the last recorded voyage.
In the last group of people to reach British soil, 38 had been at sea for nearly an hour when their boat deflated in British waters at around 6:17am.
Since then, the Coast Guard has launched search and rescue operations, in collaboration with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), the British Royal Navy, border forces and the Police.
By 07.07, everyone who was stranded in the water had been rescued. All of them have been evaluated to determine that they are in a stable and safe condition and have been transferred to the city of Dover. No deaths were reported.
Last month, some authorities said it was extraordinary that there were no “serious” incidents, such as sinking, this year as the average number of passengers per ship has risen to 44 from 28 in 2021.
More than 29,700 people have crossed the English Channel into the UK this year, according to official figures provided by the British Government. This figure exceeds the total in 2021 which was 28,526 people.
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