12 migrants dead after boat tears apart in English Channel, authorities say

A boat carrying migrants ripped apart in theEnglishChannelas they attempted to reach Britain from northern France on Tuesday, plunging dozens into the treacherous waterway and leaving 12 dead, authorities said.

Most of the victims were believed to be women, some under 18, and many of the passengers didn't have life preservers, officials said, with one calling it the deadliest migrant accident in the Channelthis year.

"Unfortunately, the bottom of the boat ripped open," said Olivier Barbarin, mayor of Le Portel, near the French fishing port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, where a first aid post was set up to treat victims. "If people don't know how to swim in the agitated waters ... it can go very quickly."

Europe's increasingly strict asylum rules, growing xenophobia and hostile treatment of migrants have been pushing them north.

Before Tuesday's accident, at least 30 migrants had died or gone missing while trying to cross to the U.K. this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Rescuers pulled a total of 65 people from theEnglishChannelon Tuesday in a search that lasted more than four hours, according to Lt. Etienne Baggio, a spokespersonfor the French agency that oversees the stretch of sea where the boat ripped apart. Doctors confirmed 12 died, he said.

Another 12 people were hospitalized, and two were in very serious conditions, authorities said.

Baggio called it the deadliest migrant boat tragedy in theEnglishChannelthis year. In July,four migrants diedwhile attempting the crossing on an inflatable boat that capsized and punctured, while five others, including a child, diedinanother attempt in April. Five more bodieswere recovered from the seas or found washed up along a beach aftera migrant boat ran into difficultiesin the dark and cold of January.

WATCH | French officialspromise investigation into tragedy:

12 migrants dead, dozens rescued after boat rips apart in English Channel

18 days ago

Duration 0:51

French officials described the deadly incident as a 'tragedy' and said an investigation will look into what happened.

Many of those aboard the vessel that broke up in theEnglishChannelon Tuesday didn't have life-vests, Baggio said. It was not immediately clear what kind of boat the migrants were travelling in. Three helicopters, a plane, two fishing boats and more than six other vessels were involved in the rescue operation.

In another sea tragedy on Tuesday involving peopleseeking a better life in Europe, a boat carrying migrantscapsized off the Libyan coast, leaving one person dead and 22 missing, Libyan authorities said.

'A terrible shipwreck'

The agency overseeing the rescue operation in theEnglishChannelsaid the boat got into difficulty off Gris-Nez point, between Boulogne-sur-Mer and the port of Calais further north. Sea temperatures off northern France were about20 C.

French Interior Minister Grald Darmanin went to Boulogne-sur-Mer to meet those involved in handling what he described as the "terrible shipwreck." He said the boat was frail and small less than seven metres long and that smugglers are packing more and more people aboard such vessels.

Most of the people on the boat were believed to be from Eritrea, and most of the victims were women, he said.

Last week, the leaders of France and Britain agreed to deepen co-operation on illegal migration in the Channel.

British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called it "a horrifying and deeply tragic incident" and paid tribute to French rescuers "who undoubtedly saved many lives, but sadly could not save everyone."

"The gangs behind this appalling and callous trade in human lives have been cramming more and more people onto increasingly unseaworthy dinghies, and sending them out into theChanneleven in very poor weather," she said.

"They do not care about anything but the profits they make, and that is why as well as mourning the awful loss of life the work to dismantle these dangerous and criminal smuggler gangs and to strengthen border security is so vital and must proceed apace."

At least 2,109 migrants have tried to cross theEnglishChannelon small boats in the past seven days, according to British Home Office data updated on Tuesday. The data includes people found in the Channelor on arrival.