Two men died after an overcrowded migrant boat got into difficulty near Berck on Sunday night, French authorities said.
Rescuers reached the vessel after police spotted it leaving the shore at around 10 p.m.
Passengers were using their shoes to scoop water from the boat, which carried at least 80 people and had a strong smell of petrol, Jean-Marc Lamblin, head of the French sea rescue service SNSM, told La Voix du Nord.
Around 20 people were left in the water because there was no room for them aboard.
Two men, believed to be in their 30s and 40s, were in cardiac arrest when rescue crews arrived.
They died shortly after being brought ashore, at about midnight.
Two women, aged 20 and 26 and originally from Somalia, were treated for burns linked to fuel mixed with seawater.
Their injuries were not considered life-threatening. They are recovering at a hospital in Rang-du-Fliers.
The public prosecutor’s office in Boulogne-sur-Mer has launched an inquiry into the deaths.
In a separate operation on Sunday, 149 people were rescued in the middle of the Channel and taken to Gosport, Hampshire, the UK Home Office said.
Around 150 anti-migrant protesters gathered there; flares were lit and clashes with police were reported.
Home Office figures show 19,451 people have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year.
That is 43% fewer than by the same point last year and 23% below the total recorded at this stage in 2024.
By: Magdalene Agyeiwaa Sarpong