The shipwreck comes a day after U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he would be "relentless" in combatting small boats crossing the Channel. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI | License Photo
Aug. 4 (UPI) -- More than 150 migrants were rescued after their boat caught fire and capsized while crossing the English Channel from France on Tuesday, officials said.
Maritime authorities first encountered the boat overnight, when five people were rescued and taken to Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France.
"The remaining people on board refused the assistance offered by French resources," the French Maritime Prefecture for the Channel and the North Sea said in a statement.
The remaining 157 migrants were "determined to reach the United Kingdom" and refused assistance.
