Teenager thought to be among the dead after ‘traumatic’ sinking of Channel migrants’ dinghy

A teenager is believed to have been among the four Channel migrants who died when their dinghy sank, as it emerged that at least eight unaccompanied children were on the boat.

Roger Gough, leader of Kent County Council, told a meeting of the local authority on Thursday that the youth was among four who lost their lives when the flimsy dinghy developed a puncture mid-way across the Channel. 

The tragedy, he said, was a "sobering reminder of the human costs of what is an ongoing crisis”. 

Eight of the 39 rescued were unaccompanied children, all said to be teenagers and one believed to be from Albania.

An ongoing sea and air operation continued to search for a further four migrants thought to be missing from the original 47 who set out from France for England overnight on Wednesday. Drones were being used to scan the water for anyone unaccounted for, with ships asked to post lookouts.

Meanwhile, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch reviewed evidence of the incident to decide whether an inquiry should be launched.

Panicking migrants called a French charity from the dinghy to say they were in difficulties before 2am. The charity alerted French and UK authorities and an air and sea rescue operation began at 2.16am, with the launch of a RNLI lifeboat. It was joined by the Royal Navy, coastguard, other RNLI lifeboats, ambulance and police.

It was, however, the intervention mid-Channel of Raymond Strachan, a trawler skipper and his crew, that proved critical after they were woken at 3am by the screams of the migrants - five of whom were clinging to his boat. He rescued 31 of the 39 and brought them back to shore.

But on Thursday, there were questions over why the French did not send a Navy or border vessel to assist the stricken migrant dinghy until 3.21am, when they received a Mayday message from UK coastguards - even though the charity had alerted them more than an hour earlier.

French maritime authorities said they had had to rely on commercial vessels to monitor the migrant boats, as there were 10 launched in different locations. It had asked one of these to monitor the boat in trouble, but had not dispatched a navy or border vessel after the British said they were sending the RNLI.

One of Mr Strachan’s bosses said it was now becoming standard for trawlers to be prepared to rescue migrants crossing the Channel. Charles Blyth, safety officer at the company which owns his trawler, said the crew had previously rescued another boat of asylum seekers.

"We are starting to expect it," said Mr Blyth, though he added: "It's hard to prepare for as we never know what to expect.

“I must stress it should not be the role for the fishing vessel to be responsible for the rescue of these individuals. Equipment is not designed to handle an influx of 30-plus people on that boat.

"I'm in awe of what they managed to achieve. What they've dealt with will stay with them for the rest of their lives. I'm sure they are proud of themselves for what they achieved - there's no evading the fact there's numerous dead bodies around the vessel.”

Simon Ling, RNLI head of lifeboats, said the scenes faced by arriving crews were "harrowing".  

He said: "The fishing boats were already on the scene but it's fair to say the crews arrived to quite a distressing and harrowing situation, with persons in the water in varying levels of distress."

The incident was "hugely traumatic" for all involved and lifeboat crews had to get those rescued "out of the water as quickly as possible" and "deal with various states including being very cold and hypothermic", he said.

"Ahead of any investigation or review of what happened, it's fair to say that the fishing boat and the actions of its crew undoubtedly saved countless lives, and the RNLI would very much want to recognise that.”

Two casualties were taken to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, said bosses there. One was later discharged but the other had died by the time they arrived, it is understood.

The Ministry of Defence said 401 migrants were detected in eight boats on Wednesday, not including those who died. The latest figures take the provisional total for the number of migrants who have made the crossing so far this year to 45,223.