Paris, Aug 4 — French and British rescue boats on Tuesday rescued 173 migrants from a boat that caught fire in the English Channel near the northwestern French city of Boulogne-sur-Mer, local administration said in a statement.
According to a statement issued by the French Maritime Prefecture for the Channel and the North Sea, a migrant boat departed from the French side on Monday night in an attempt to cross the English Channel. During a monitoring operation, French rescue assets identified five people on board in need of assistance.
The five people were rescued by coastguards, while the remaining occupants refused assistance offered by France, according to the statement, Xinhua News Agency reported.
On Tuesday morning, the boat caught fire near the boundary between French and British waters, prompting French and British rescue resources to launch a rescue operation. The maritime prefecture initially said 157 people had been rescued before revising the figure upward to 173 later in the day.
"So far, we have not recorded any serious injuries," Thierry Darras, deputy director of the Pas-de-Calais Departmental Fire and Rescue Service, said at a press briefing Tuesday afternoon.
French broadcaster France Info, citing the maritime prefecture, reported that boats used by migrant smugglers to cross the English Channel have become larger in recent years, with their average capacity increasing from 26 people in 2021 to 65 since the beginning of 2026.
In May, two migrants died during an attempted crossing of the English Channel from the French side, local media reported.
According to French daily Le Figaro, around 82 people set off aboard a makeshift boat from Neuchatel-Hardelot, in the department of Pas-de-Calais in northern France.
The boat later drifted at sea due to a suspected engine failure before running aground on a nearby beach.
Seventeen people who fell into the water were rescued offshore by maritime gendarmerie units, while 65 passengers were found on board. Two women were found dead inside the boat, and several others were evacuated to hospital, including three in critical condition.