More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
One person is dead and another missing after they tried to cross the English Channel to get to the UK.
French authorities say they believe the asylum seeker was unconscious when they were pulled from the water and pronounced dead when they were returned to the dock.
Searches had been carried out after rescued migrants said somebody had fallen into the water.
It comes as the number of people making the journey on small boats this year passed 20,000 yesterday.
More than 400 people were rescued during the French-led rescue operation in the Strait of Pas-de-Calais.
On Tuesday 456 people were rescued or intercepted by UK authorities as they attempted the crossing from France.
And more than a dozen asylum seekers were rescued from a sinking dinghy on Wednesday as it headed from Calais to Dover.
The number of people who have reached the UK so far this year is double the total for the whole of 2020.
Bridget Chapman from Kent Refugee Action Network said a number of unaccompanied children were living rough in northern France.
She added: "If we can't agree on anything else, surely we can agree those unaccompanied children should be brought to the UK in safety, not left to languish in northern France."
