by A.P.
Sixty-four migrants including a pregnant woman and several children were rescued in the English Channel in the past 24 hours as they were seeking to reach Britain aboard rickety vessels, French maritime authorities said Sunday.
A first group of 45 migrants were spotted Saturday off of Leffrinckoucke, near the northern French port of Dunkirk, aboard a small craft “in difficulty”, a first statement by the French prefecture in charge of the Channel and North Sea said.
Several “appeared to be in a state of hypothermia” after being brought aboard a patrol ship, it said.
First responders and border police took charge of the migrants, who were “all safe and sound” when they were put ashore in Calais in the early evening, it added.
Then early Sunday a French customs patrol boat rescued a second group of 19 migrants some 18 kilometres (11 miles) south of Boulogne-sur-Mer. They included at least two children, who also “seemed to be in a state of hypothermia,” Sunday’s statement said.