Channel boat fire: 173 migrants rescued

French and British authorities rescued 173 migrants after their boat caught fire during an attempted Channel crossing on Tuesday, forcing people to jump overboard near the boundary between French and British waters, French officials said.

French maritime authorities revised the rescue total later Tuesday from an earlier figure of 157. An AFP reporter saw migrants wrapped in red blankets step off a rescue ship in France.

The prefect's office in France's Pas-de-Calais region said the small boat caught fire on Tuesday morning. Rescue services official Thierry Darras said some people suffered burns, grazes or bruises, but no one was seriously injured.

French maritime authorities said the migrants had left the coastal village of Veules-les-Roses in Normandy on Monday. The British coastguard said UK vessels and a lifeboat assisted after a vessel caught fire in French waters. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution said it launched a boat to help at 6:00 am.

The operation was one of the largest such rescues reported since records began in 2018 for Channel crossings from France to Britain.

UK Justice Secretary Alex Norris said the rescue was a reminder of the danger of the crossings and of what he called the "blind indifference" of human traffickers to life on the boats.

France has long been a launch point for migrants without visas trying to reach Britain across one of the world's busiest shipping routes. French maritime authorities have told AFP the average number of people on small boats has risen from 26 in 2021 to 65 since the start of 2026.

British authorities say 14,526 people have landed on British shores after such crossings so far this year. In 2025, more than 41,000 migrants landed on England's southern coast, the second-highest annual number since 2018.

Britain and France have a "one in, one out" arrangement under which London says it has removed 1,087 people who arrived on small boats and admitted 1,117 migrants who requested entry to Britain from France through a legal route.

Since the start of 2026, 15 people have died trying to cross the Channel, according to an AFP tally based on official French and British sources. At least 29 migrants died in 2025, according to a similar AFP count.