More than 600 migrants have arrived in the UK after nearly 40 migrants were rescued from the English Channel when their boat sank off the coast of Kent, in the southeast of the country.
The Defense Department reported that 617 people crossed last Thursday in 14 boats, bringing the annual total to nearly 30,000. Figures show that there were an average of 44 people per boat on the last recorded voyage.
In the most recent group of people to reach English soil, 38 people were at sea for about an hour when their boat sank in UK waters around 6:17 am.
Next, the Coast Guard launched a search and rescue operation, in collaboration with the Royal National Lifeboat Corporation (RNLI), the British Royal Navy, Border Force and Police.
By 7:07 AM, all the people who ended up in the water were rescued. All were evaluated to determine if they were in stable and safe conditions and were transferred to Dover. No deaths have been reported.
Last month, some authorities said it was notable that there were no “serious” accidents, such as drowning, this year as the average number of passengers per boat rose from 28 in 2021 to 44.
More than 29,700 people have crossed the English Channel to the UK this year, according to official data provided by the British government. This exceeds the 2021 total of 28,526 people.
