Three die after crowded dinghy gets into trouble off France

Three people, including a 10-year-old child, died after an overcrowded inflatable dinghy carrying 105 people got into trouble off Wissant, northern France, during an attempted crossing of the English Channel, French authorities said. The other passengers were rescued, and authorities said the boat had not sunk. French maritime police said they received a distress call from the dinghy on Monday, September 28. The deaths were those of two women and a child, according to reports citing local authorities. Initial information suggested the three had been crushed amid overcrowding rather than drowned, a prefecture spokesman said. The cause of death and the circumstances that led the boat to get into trouble remain under investigation. Authorities described the vessel as a taxi boat, a dinghy that approaches the shore to pick up passengers. All passengers aboard requested rescue, the maritime prefecture said. Reports said rescue teams brought survivors to safety, with a rescue boat later arriving at the port of Calais. The precise number of people who received medical attention was not consistently reported.