Over 170 rescued after boat catches fire crossing Channel

French coastguards have rescued 173 people from a boat carrying migrants that caught fire in the English Channel near the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, the local administration said in a statement.

Three coastguard ships rescued those on board, the local French administration which handles the English Channel and North Sea areas said.

Rescue services official Thierry Darras said some of those rescued had sustained burns, grazes or bruises, but no serious injuries.

A spokesman for the British coastguard said UK vessels and a lifeboat were assisting after "a vessel caught fire earlier this morning" in French waters.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution charity said it had launched a boat to help at 6am.

Last week three people died while trying to cross the Channel on a small boat.

Today's rescue highlights the growing dangers of Channel crossings as human traffickers cram ever larger numbers of people onto flimsy boats.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham pledged on Sunday to be "relentless" in curbing small-boat arrivals.

The Channel is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, and its strong currents have resulted in the deaths of many migrants trying to cross over from France to Britain.

Human traffickers typically overload their dinghies, leaving them barely afloat.

"This incident underlines the terrible dangers of small boat crossings. We continue to work relentlessly with the French and our partners overseas to prevent these perilous journeys," a British government spokesperson said.

Yesterday, the Reform UK party said that if elected, it would stop asylum seekers with what it said would be the largest military operation in the Channel since World War II.

So far this year, 14,526 people have landed on British shores after such journeys, according to British authorities.

Last year, more than 41,000 migrants landed on England's southern coast - the second-highest annual number since 2018.

The UK and France last year inked a so-called "One in, one out" deal, which has been criticised by charities working with migrants.

Under the accord, Britain has forcibly removed 1,087 people who arrived on small boats who it says do not meet the criteria to be given asylum, in exchange for admitting 1,117 other migrants who had requested entry to the United Kingdom from France via a legal route.

So far this year, 14 people have died trying to cross the Channel, according to a tally by news agency AFP based on official French and British sources.

At least 29 migrants lost their lives last year, according to a similar AFP count.