Four people dead after small boat capsizes crossing Channel

Four people have died after their heavily crowded inflatable boat capsized while attempting to cross the English Channel in an incident that the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has described as “truly awful”.

The French coastguard said they had fallen into the sea off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France.

56 people were rescued, but they were unable to save four others who were found unconscious.

Earlier this week, the new Labour government set out its plans to address the small boats crisis.