Dinghy found drifting three miles off French coast after fifth refugee swam back to shore to raise alarm

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Four refugees have been rescued by the French coastguard from an inflatable dinghy adrift in the Channel.

The alarm was raised after a man was found on a beach near Sangatte in the early hours of Saturday, suffering from hypothermia.



He said that he and four others had set off from Dunkirk in a bid to reach the UK. He had abandoned the dinghy and swum back to shore.

They were found about three miles off the French coast and rescued shortly after 6am. They were also suffering from hypothermia, according to France Info radio.

The shortest distance between England and France is just more than 20 miles.

Such attempts have proved relatively rare. In June 2014 eight Afghans were rescued from a broken-down inflatable in the Channel after being spotted by a P&O ferry.

The following month two men were rescued from a toy rubber dinghy after apparently being dropped off by a yacht half a mile from the Kent coast.

In May 2014 a refugee tried to sail to Britain on a raft made out of a table leg, wooden planks and a bed sheet. The 23-year-old man was suffering from hypothermia when he was rescued about a mile off France.

Meanwhile, about 20 anti-refugee protesters were arrested in Calais on Saturday after scuffles with police at a banned rally in support of a Europe-wide initiative by the anti-Islamic Pegida movement.



A crowd of some 150 protesters had gathered in central Calais carrying signs such as “This is our home”, waving the French flag and singing the national anthem, despite the government issuing a ban on demonstrations earlier this week.

Calais has become a focal point for Europe’s refugee crisis, with about 3,700 people living in the Jungle camp on the outskirts of the city.

They hope to smuggle themselves across the Channel to Britain on lorries or trains, but as security has been tightened authorities fear more may attempt the dangerous sea crossing. The Channel is one of the world’s busiest shipping routes.