Two women die as small boat ‘runs aground’ while trying to reach UK

A teenage girl and woman died off the French coast when a small boat carrying over 80 migrants ‘ran aground’ while trying to reach Britain.

The pair, aged 16 and 29, died on Sunday on a beach near Neufchatel-Hardelot, south of Boulogne-sur-Mer, said Christophe Marx, a regional government official. 

Emergency service workers made the horrific discovery in the early hours this morning.

There were immediate fears that the deceased, believed to be of Sudanese origin, who had been among 82 people on the packed boat, had been crushed to death.

The inflatable boat’s engine exploded, forcing those on board to huddle together as they pulled away from a raging fire at around 3am.

Marx, of the Pas de Calais prefecture, said: ‘They were in a small boat carrying approximately eighty-two people.

‘The boat ran aground on the beach, and the victims were found dead inside the boat.’

An Iranian survivor said: ‘There was a problem with the engine, which caught fire. This forced everybody backwards, into a huddle.’

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to the Border Security Command compound in Dover, Kent, from a Border Security Command vessel, May 3rd, 2026

Two women died off the French coast when a small boat carrying over 80 migrants ‘ran aground’ while trying to reach Britain (file photo)

French Gendarme observe migrants onboard a smuggler’s boat as they sail in an attempt to cross the English Channel off the beach of Hardelot in Neufchatel-Hardelot, northern France on August 13, 2025

Paulette Juilien-Peuvion, the Mayor of Neufchatel-Hardelot, said: ‘One of the victims was only sixteen years old, the second was not yet thirty.

‘A man on the boat had suffered severe burns and was transported to hospital in an emergency vehicle, while five others were also in a critical condition.’

Seventeen people were rescued at sea and taken to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer.

The boat with the remaining 65 people on board eventually ran aground on the beach, Marx said, adding that the victims had been found ‘dead inside the boat’.

Thirteen people with moderate injuries and three others with serious wounds, including burn victims, were taken to the hospital.

They were ‘being treated and will be interviewed by border police to determine who is responsible for this crossing’, Marx added.

He said an investigation would confirm the victims’ nationalities. There was no immediate identification of anybody involved in the disaster, as local prosecutors opened a criminal enquiry.

A second small boat was rescued by the Minck, a vessel chartered by the French Navy, and the 17 people on board were all taken to safety.

Four people died last month while attempting to board an inflatable dinghy in nearby Equihen-Plage.

All had waded into the sea in a bid to reach a so-called ‘taxi boat’ positioned offshore.

Two others died in similar circumstances a few days before, as the French authorities reported an increase in numbers trying to get across the English Channel because of improved weather.

All had paid people smugglers for a place on an overcrowded boat on one of the most dangerous migrant routes in the world.

According to UK and French government figures, more than 5,000 people have successfully crossed the Channel this year, following more than 41,000 crossings in 2025.

This is despite Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announcing a string of new measures designed to crack down on illegal immigration.

Last week, she signed a three-year agreement with France that will see more French riot police on beaches.

The Home Office said the agreement would see hundreds of migrants per year ‘removed from French beaches’ and deported to their home countries, or other EU countries they have passed through.

Around £501million will be spent on boosting enforcement action on beaches. 

At least eight people have died in total this year on small boats trying to make the risky trip across the English Channel to the southern coast of the UK. 

At least 29 migrants died in the boats last year.

According to French officials, the number of arrivals in Britain so far this year has been drastically cut from 2025.

Last month, the total number of small boat migrants hit the 6,000 mark.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said at the time: ‘This is yet another day of shame for this weak Prime Minister and Home Secretary.

‘They have no control whatsoever over our borders.

‘Illegal Channel crossings are up by 45 per cent since the general election.

‘Labour’s claims to smash the gangs lie in tatters.’

He added: ‘We need to urgently leave the ECHR, which will enable us to deport these illegal immigrants within a week of arrival. Then the crossings will soon stop.

‘That is the Conservative plan, but Shabana Mahmood and Keir Starmer are too weak to do it.’

A previous multi-year deal with Emmanuel Macron’s government, signed in 2023, expired at the end of March.

The £478million package was also expected to pay for a new detention centre in France, which has still not opened.

In the new negotiations, Labour has been demanding performance-related payments, which will see funding payments staggered according to the number of migrants who are prevented from leaving the French beaches.

Labour’s separate ‘one in, one out’ scheme launched last year, allowing small boat migrants to be returned to France, has seen 377 removed so far, but 380 have been brought into the UK under the reciprocal terms of the deal.

The scheme is due to end next month.

In a further sign that Labour’s small boats policies are in disarray, the head of the UK’s border security command stepped down at the end of March after failing to stem the surge in crossings.

Sir Keir Starmer appointed Martin Hewitt, a former senior police officer, shortly after becoming Prime Minister, tasking him with curbing numbers crossing the Channel.

But during his 18 months in the job, crossings continued at sky-high levels, with last year witnessing the second-highest annual total on record.