A migration drama was narrowly avoided overnight from Wednesday to Thursday in the Channel. Around 5:30 am this Thursday, the Corsen Regional Operational Surveillance and Rescue Center (Cross) was contacted by migrants reporting that they were in difficulty following a fuel starvation about thirty kilometers off Saint-Malo.
Twenty-seven people, including ten children, were on board the adrift boat, said the Maritime Prefecture of the Atlantic in a press release.
Brought ashore by a customs patrol boat
As soon as the alert was given, the Cross de Corsen asked a fishing vessel present in the area to ensure the safety of people. At the same time, two ships of the French Navy as well as a customs patroller on a stopover in the privateer city were dispatched to the site.
All the people were recovered safe and sound and brought back to the port of Saint-Malo in the morning. They were taken care of by the Samu teams and the border police. The makeshift boat was also towed to Saint-Malo.
According to the Saint-Malo prosecutor Christine Le Crom, “it seems that this boat left Erquy or Saint-Brieuc this Thursday morning around 1 am”.