Two Iraqi migrants, including a 17-year-old, were found dead Monday on a beach in Le Touquet, in the Pas-de-Calais, a first in this department that regularly records attempts to cross to England, has - we learned from the prefecture.
The two men "would probably come from the same boat", found empty of occupants near the first body, said the same source. Around 11 am, the body of a 17-year-old Iraqi Kurdish migrant was found by a passer-by on the beach of Stella in the town of Touquet-Paris-Plage.
"At 20 meters from the body, towards the dunes, the police of the public security district of Le Touquet also discovered a small boat" semi-rigid, "without engine, with two oars inside, a can of gasoline nearby and a lifejacket, "said the prefecture of Pas-de-Calais.
Eight migrants rescued at the end of the morning
A second boat of the same type was also found at 450 meters, "without it being possible to specify at this stage whether the two are linked". Found "by the sea", the young man was "already died at the arrival of help," said firefighters. The investigation was entrusted to the Touquet police and the border police (PAF) Coquelles, said the prosecutor's office of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
In the afternoon, another Iraqi migrant, aged 22, was found dead by a passerby, told AFP the prefecture. According to the prosecutor's office, confirming information from France 3, eight migrants were also rescued Monday late morning on a beach near Calais and taken to a reception center. But the prosecution does not establish any link between the two cases at this stage.