A young Algerian was in police custody Friday and was to be presented this Saturday to an examining magistrate, after the sinking Thursday of a canoe of migrants on their way to England, which resulted in the death of a passenger , we learned from the Dunkirk prosecutor's office, confirming information from

La Voix du Nord

.

"All the adults who were on the boat" were initially taken into custody but these custody were then lifted, with the exception of this 21-year-old Algerian, said deputy prosecutor Alexia. Gonnet.

Placed in police custody for manslaughter, assistance with entry and irregular stay and endangering the lives of others, this young man must "normally" be presented to an investigating judge on Saturday for his detention. under review.

The magistrate did not wish to indicate at this stage whether he was suspected of having piloted the boat.

The migrant who died while trying to reach England aboard this boat loaded with 36 exiles, which was wrecked off Dunkirk, has not at this stage been formally identified.

First death of a migrant in Pas-de-Calais in 2021

"We have a possible identification but still being verified", underlined the magistrate, adding that the autopsy of the body would take place "a priori Monday".

The prosecution said Thursday that it was a man of 25 to 30 years, of African origin.

According to testimonies collected by the association of aid to migrants Utopia 56, he is Eritrean.

Picked up unconscious at sea, he died in Calais hospital where he had been transferred by helicopter, according to the prosecution.

He is the first migrant reported to have died while attempting to cross the Strait of Pas-de-Calais in 2021. In 2020, seven people were killed there and two were missing, according to an updated report after the discovery of the body of one of the missing, we learned from the Gris-Nez Regional Operational Surveillance and Rescue Center (CROSS).

The tragedy came as the number of migrant crossings to England by sea, a phenomenon that has been growing rapidly since 2018, has reached records in recent days.

Again on Friday, after a call for help from CROSS Gris-Nez, a patroller from the French Navy dispatched to the area rescued 31 people, including a woman and nine children, brought back to the port of Dunkirk.

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