The regional operational center for surveillance and rescue (Cross) Gris-Nez was first contacted for a boat of migrants "in difficulty off Sangatte" (Pas-de-Calais), detailed the prefecture in a report. communicated.
On board, seven people were picked up by the public service patrol boat (PSP) Flamant of the French Navy and deposited at the port of Dunkirk where they were taken care of by the departmental fire and rescue service (SDIS) and border police, she added.
The Cross then hired the patrol boat for a boat in difficulty with 29 castaways on board off Dunkirk.
Once arrived in the area, "the Flamingo signals that a castaway is uneasy", a "helicopter-borne medical evacuation of the castaway" was then decided.
The other people were brought back to the port of Dunkirk.
Thirty-seven castaways were then rescued on a boat in difficulty off Calais and 35 off Dunkirk.
Since the end of 2018, illegal crossings of the Channel by migrants seeking to reach the United Kingdom have multiplied despite repeated warnings from the authorities who highlight the danger linked to the density of traffic, strong currents and low temperatures. some water.
In 2020, more than 9,500 crossings or attempted crossings of this type were recorded, four times more than in 2019, according to an official report.
Six people were killed there and three disappeared, after four deaths in 2019.
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