Eight people died overnight while trying to cross the English Channel from France to Britain, French police said.
Rescue services were alerted after the boat got into difficulties in waters north of Boulogne-sur-mer in the northern Pas-de-Calais department just after 01:00 local time (00:00 BST).
The rubber boat was carrying about 50 people and began sinking shortly after leaving shore.
The incident comes less than two weeks after 12 people, including six children and a pregnant woman, died when a boat carrying dozens of migrants sank in the highest death toll in the English Channel this year.
The French coastguard said the boat was seen heading towards the beach in the town of Ambleteuse but rescue teams were unable to provide assistance from the sea.
Emergency services treated 53 people on the beach and confirmed eight deaths, the coastguard said. No others were found during a search at sea.
The Boulogne-sur-mer prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation.
A UK Government spokesman confirmed the latest incident and said French authorities were leading the response and investigation.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said it was “horrific” to hear of “more lives lost” in the English Channel.
He told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that many people “of course can’t” cross the Channel after seeing the types of rubber boats people use.
He also reiterated the government’s plans to work with European partners to tackle people-smuggling gangs to stop small boat crossings.
Mayor Jacques Billant holds a press conference in the town of Ambleteuse.
There have been a series of attempts to cross the English Channel over the past two days as the weather has cooled.
The French maritime agency said 200 people were rescued within 24 hours on Friday and Saturday.
The French coast guard and other first responders rescued people on four separate boats – one carrying 61 people, one carrying 55 people and two others carrying 48 and 36 people each.
During the day, authorities monitored eighteen attempts to cross the border.
Including the eight latest victims, the total is 45 people. dead in the Canal this year – the highest reported number since 2021, according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration.
More than 21,000 people have crossed the English Channel this year.
Amnesty International UK said the latest incident was “another horrific and avoidable tragedy”.
Enver Solomon, CEO of the Refugee Council, said the deaths were not “inevitable” and a comprehensive solution was needed to reduce border crossings.
“Law enforcement alone is not the only solution,” he said, adding that access to safe asylum routes needed to be improved.
