A 10-year-old child and two women in their thirties died on Monday after an overcrowded inflatable dinghy carrying 105 people ran into trouble in the English Channel off the northern coast of France. French authorities said the deaths — and injuries sustained by dozens of others on board — were most likely caused by crushing rather than drowning. The incident unfolded in calm seas and good weather, underscoring the dangers posed not by conditions alone but by the sheer number of people packed onto makeshift vessels.

The dinghy departed from the area near Sangatte and Wissant — small coastal communities in the Pas-de-Calais department, roughly 14 miles from Calais — at around 5:15am local time. Passengers called rescue services nearly three hours later when the boat was approximately six kilometres from the English coast. France's maritime police dispatched six rescue vessels, and an emergency medical team was flown out by helicopter, but the three passengers could not be saved. The two women and the boy, who appeared to have been travelling with his mother and siblings, were believed to be Eritrean. Survivors, some on stretchers and in wheelchairs and many wrapped in emergency blankets, were disembarked at the port of Calais. Children were among them.

François-Xavier Lauch, the prefect of Pas-de-Calais, described the vessel as a so-called "water taxi" — a dinghy that approaches beaches from the sea to collect migrants wading in shallow water — noting it had arrived relatively empty from an inland waterway before picking up passengers. "Apparently there was no drowning, it was likely crushing — which is just as dreadful, especially if we think of the 10-year-old child," he said. Lauch also warned that autumn represents a particularly hazardous period for crossings, when weather remains fair enough to tempt departures but seas are increasingly unpredictable.

Including Monday's deaths, at least 22 people have died attempting the Channel crossing so far this year, according to a tally by Agence France-Presse based on official French and British sources. Despite the continuing toll, overall crossing numbers remain significantly lower than in previous years: roughly 19,000 people had made the journey by late September, down more than 40 percent compared to the same point last year. Three bodies were recovered last week following similarly chaotic departures, and two dinghies made uncontrolled landings in the UK without interception in recent days.

The deaths place renewed pressure on both governments. The Channel crossing remains a deeply charged political issue in the United Kingdom, where concern about irregular migration has fuelled the rise of hard-right political forces. On Monday, UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood was due to announce the reopening of a national resettlement scheme for refugees, with an expected focus on Palestinians and Afghan women and girls, framing legal and safe routes as central to her vision for the Home Office. Meanwhile, the northern French coastline continues to serve as the primary staging point for people — many fleeing conflict or persecution — who pay smugglers thousands of dollars for a place on an unstable rubber dinghy crossing one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.