Migrant carrying baby wrapped in a blanket is brought ashore in Dover

A migrant carrying a baby wrapped in a blanket is brought ashore in Dover as up to 30 more people were picked up in the Channel overnight.

Figures show another 118 migrants reached the UK on Friday on four boats – with the French said to have intercepted or rescued another 97 people.

A man, believed to be in his 20s and from Sudan, died after falling into the water while making the perilous crossing from northern France to Britain Friday morning. 

He was found unconscious and taken back to shore for treatment, but was later declared dead.   

Twenty-five people were found still on board the boat and were picked up by rescue teams while five others were found on a nearby sandbank, French authorities said. 

One male migrant arriving in the UK on Saturday morning was pictured holding a small baby that had been wrapped in multiple blankets. 

Figures show another 118 migrants reached the UK on Friday on four boats – with the French said to have intercepted or rescued another 97 people

As many as three migrants could still be missing according to testimonies from those who were rescued on Friday, according to reports in French media. An investigation into what happened has been opened by the Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor.

The latest death in the Channel, believed to be the first this year, comes after 27 migrants drowned in November after their dinghy capsized near Calais. Five women and a young girl were among the victims.

At least 39 people are believed to have died attempting the Channel crossing last year, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration.

Charity bosses and MPs described yesterday’s death in the Channel as a ‘tragedy’ and urged the Government to act to end the dangerous small boat crossings. 

It comes as figures Friday showed more than 450 migrants have crossed the Channel from France to the UK in two weeks. A total of 271 migrants were confirmed to have made the dangerous crossing on Thursday – bringing the total number of arrivals so far this year to at least 458. 

The total number of migrant arrivals Thursday was more than the entire figure for January last year – when 223 people in 15 boats crossed the Channel in 31 days.

More than 28,381 people crossed the Channel to the UK across the whole of 2021, compared to 8,400 in 2020.

Footage from Friday shows an RNLI lifeboat bringing a group of migrants into Dover in the early hours, when air temperatures were as low as 6C (42F).

One male migrant arriving in the UK on Saturday morning was pictured holding a small baby that had been wrapped in multiple blankets

Migrants were brought ashore in Dover on Saturday morning

One migrant wrapped themselves up in a blanket to try to warm up on Saturday

A migrant carried a baby in a bundle of blankets as he arrived in the UK on Saturday

Sea temperatures meanwhile were also around 9.5C (49F). Experts say the average person can afford to be in water that cold for ‘between five and ten minutes’ before risking hypothermia. 

The RNLB City of London II Dover Lifeboat brought the group of young men wearing jackets and woolly hats into Dover Marina.

One gave a thumbs up to celebrate arriving around 2am as their large black RHIB was left in the harbour filled with discarded equipment and an outboard engine.

Meanwhile, around 45 migrants were brought ashore by an RNLI lifeboat at Dungeness Thursday night – the first crossing of its kind so far this year.

French authorities also prevented 75 people from making the dangerous journey across the Dover Strait in three incidents, according to the Home Office.  

Those arriving at Dover on Friday, all of whom appeared to be men, were seen wrapped up in thick coats as they were led up from the lifeboat at to the shore.

Those brought to shore in Dungeness, all said to be men and all of whom are said to have claimed to be from Syria, were escorted off an RNLI lifeboat before being taken to Border Force staff to be processed.