Twenty-four migrants trying to reach England in a makeshift boat were rescued about 40 kilometers off the coast of Belgium on Wednesday, and four of them had to be hospitalized, Belgian police said.
The rescue operation, with two boats and a helicopter, required the temporary shutdown of a wind farm, according to the governor of the province of West Flanders, quoted by the Belga press agency.
The migrants had been at sea for two days
The rescue took place more than 40 kilometers off Zeebruge after a distress call from the occupants of the small boat.
Among the 24 people, adults only, several suffered from hypothermia.
Four in total had to be hoisted in order to be quickly hospitalized, according to this spokesperson.
According to the Flemish press, these migrants, 22 men and two women including an elderly lady, had been at sea for two days.
No details were given on their presumed place of departure, nor on their nationalities.
Nearly 30,000 migrants have already attempted to cross the Channel in 2021
On the French side, according to the prefect of Pas-de-Calais, 29,360 migrants, possibly counted several times, attempted the crossing between January 1 and September 30: 15,553 passed and 13,807 remained stranded on land.
In 2020, crossings and attempted crossings concerned some 9,500 people, compared to 2,300 in 2019 and 600 in 2018.
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