Migrants attempt to cross the English Channel in a smuggler's boat off the coast of Gravelines, northern France, on April 14, 2026. SAMEER AL-DOUMY / AFP
Two young Sudanese women appear to have suffocated to death on Sunday, May 3, while trying to reach Britain from northern France in a small boat crammed with more than 80 people including pregnant women and children, officials said. This was the third such tragedy in just over a month.
The women, aged around 20, were aboard a small boat carrying 82 people that set out to sea south of the town of Neufchatel-Hardelot, Christophe Marx, a local government official, told reporters. Officials believe the two victims are of Sudanese origin.
Separately, Utopia 56, a migrant aid association, described the two victims as a 16-year-old child and a 20-year-old woman. One other victim – a pregnant woman – was in critical condition, the group said.
"We can't see the end of this story. No one has the real solutions. And it's tragic," Paulette Juilien-Peuvion, the mayor of Neufchatel-Hardelot, told AFP. She said she was sad to see "these young people trying to flee." "There were notably pregnant mothers among them. I heard about a pregnant mother who also had another child with her," she said.
