Channel boat fire: 157 migrants rescued

French and British vessels rescued 157 migrants after their small boat caught fire while trying to cross the Channel on Tuesday morning, French authorities said.

The Pas-de-Calais prefect's office said the boat caught fire on the boundary between French and British waters, forcing its occupants to jump overboard. No casualties were reported.

French maritime authorities said the migrants had left the coastal village of Veules-les-Roses in Normandy on Monday. The operation was one of the largest such rescues reported since records began in 2018.

France has long been a launch point for migrants trying to reach Britain across the Channel, one of the world's busiest shipping routes. Maritime authorities told AFP that the average number of people on small boats has risen from 26 in 2021 to 65 since the start of this year.

More than 41,000 migrants landed on England's southern coast last year, the second-highest annual number since 2018. So far this year, 14 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 the Channel last year, according to a similar tally.