Nearly 160 migrants were rescued off Boulogne-sur-Mer on Tuesday, August 4, after the engine of their overcrowded boat caught fire as they tried to reach the United Kingdom illegally.
The makeshift vessel "caught fire at the boundary of French and British waters, forcing its occupants to jump into the water," the Pas-de-Calais prefecture said mid-morning. It added that no casualties had been reported at that stage.
In total, 157 people were rescued, according to the prefecture. The operation ranks among the largest sea rescues since migrants began crossing the Channel aboard so-called "small boats" in 2018.
Boat departed from Normandy the day before
The Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and North Sea (Prémar) said the boat had left Veules-les-Roses, in the Seine-Maritime department, on Monday. Overnight into Tuesday, five passengers who needed rescuing had already been taken aboard and brought ashore at Boulogne-sur-Mer, Prémar said. The rest of the people on board had at that point refused help offered by French resources.
On Tuesday morning, as the small boat neared British waters, its engine caught fire and the vessel's structure deteriorated very quickly, Prémar said. Numerous vessels were mobilised, including two British Border Force ships and a lifeboat from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). The RNLI said its lifeboat launched at 6am local time, 7am Paris time.
Boats growing longer
Witnesses have told Agence France-Presse in recent weeks that longer boats have begun appearing, exceeding 12 metres compared with the usual 8 to 10 metres. Last week, a 19-year-old man appeared before a British court accused of piloting a boat the previous week that had carried 167 people.
Prémar recently said this method was spreading markedly, noting that the number of people per boat kept rising, from 26 in 2021 to 65 since the start of 2026.
Arrivals down 40%
Successive British governments have promised to crack down on illegal Channel crossings, a phenomenon that has helped fuel the rise of Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform UK party over the past two years. Paris and London struck a new agreement in April aimed at preventing clandestine Channel crossings.
Three women and a man died last week in similar crossing attempts. At least 15 people have died since the start of the year, according to an AFP tally.
Since January 1, 14,526 people have reached Britain illegally by sea, according to official UK figures, a drop of more than 40% compared with the same period in 2025. About 200,000 people have reached the United Kingdom by small boat since 2018.
