At least 12 people died and two were missing off the northern French coast on Tuesday, September 3, trying to cross the Channel to England, the government said, with a major rescue operation underway after the deadliest such disaster this year.

Emergency services were out in force and supplying urgent medical assistance, French maritime authorities said. Many of the migrants were in a critical state, the regional French maritime prefecture said. At least 60 people were on the boat, authorities said. The prefecture said the boat got into difficulty off Boulogne-sur-Mer.

Crew on a French government-operated ship, the Minck, were the first to become aware of the emergency and to respond, naval officer Etienne Baggio told Agence France-Presse. French navy helicopters, fishing boats and military vessels are being mobilized for the operation, which is still ongoing, he said.

It is the deadliest such disaster this year which has already seen 25 people die in migrant crossings, up from the 2023 death toll of 12.

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The French and British governments have for years sought to stop the flow of migrants, who pay smugglers thousands of euros per head for the passage to England from France aboard small boats. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and France's President Emmanuel Macron had earlier this summer pledged to strengthen "cooperation" in handling the surge in undocumented migrant numbers.

But on Monday alone, 351 migrants crossed in small boats, with 21,615 making the journey this year, according to UK government statistics. The crossing often proves perilous, and in November 2021, 27 migrants died when their boat capsized in the deadliest single such disaster to date.