Two women die crossing Channel in makeshift boat off Pas-de-Calais

Two women died early Saturday while trying to cross the English Channel from northern France to Britain, officials said, as around 100 people set off in a makeshift boat that got into difficulty off the coast of Neufchâtel-Hardelot in the Pas-de-Calais region. Rescuers pulled about 60 people from the water, and a couple and their child suffering moderate hypothermia were taken to a hospital in Boulogne, regional authorities and local officials said.

The prefecture of Pas-de-Calais said rescuers found the two women in cardiac arrest and attempts to revive them were unsuccessful. Local mayor Paulette Juilien-Peuvion told reporters she was alerted during the night and that many people ended up in the sea. Police at the scene said the women, who local media reported may have been Somali, either suffocated in an overcrowded craft before it broke up or drowned, and investigators were examining the remains of the boat.

Boulogne prosecutors have opened a criminal inquiry into the incident and police said they were working to identify those responsible for organising the crossing. An officer at the scene said the wreckage is being examined as part of the probe.