Migrants attempting to cross the English Channel (illustration).
- French
Navy
The body of a migrant was discovered on the beach of Sangatte.
This is the second time in three months that a corpse has been found at this location.
In two years, seven migrants have died trying to cross the Channel.
This Sunday, the body of a man was found in a square in the town of Sangatte, near Calais, in Pas-de-Calais.
According to the prefecture of the department, it is probably a migrant who was trying to reach Great Britain.
The macabre discovery was made on Sunday morning.
Authorities say the victim, a man between 20 and 40 years old "of Iranian appearance", was found wearing a life jacket.
The first elements gathered by the investigators allow them to orient themselves on the hypothesis of a migrant having died while trying to cross the Channel.
An autopsy should however be performed to try to determine the exact causes of death.
Last August, a migrant had already been found drowned in the same place.
Seven dead in less than two years
According to a count by the authorities, this drama brings to seven the number of people who have been killed since 2019 while attempting to cross the Strait of Pas-de-Calais.
In recent months, the frequency of these attempts has been steadily increasing.
On Saturday alone, more than 200 migrants failed in their equipment and a hundred managed to reach the British coast.
Since January 2020, 1,038 makeshift boats have crossed or attempted to cross the Channel, or more than a hundred per month.
An already high figure which does not reflect reality since it does not take into account the many successful crossings that pass under the radars.
All this, despite the substantial resources implemented by the French security forces: many police and gendarmes, thermal cameras, lighting balloons, 4x4 vehicles, motorcycles, and even drones.
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Pas-de-Calais: Polluting ships tracked down in the strait by a drone
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Pas-de-Calais: The body of a man found on a beach in Sangatte
Corpse
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Migrants