A British fisherman and his crew bravely helped save at least 30 people stranded in the English Channel.

Raymond, a skipper, had been awoken this morning by a colleague who had heard ‘screams for help’.

He and his crew leaped into action and tried desperately to save those struggling in the water.

Raymond told Sky News: ‘It was like something out of a Second World War movie – there were people in the water everywhere, screaming.

‘One guy was hanging off my wire.

‘I thought at first it was just him, and once I got my fishing gear up – which took about three minutes – I stopped my boat and ran outside and along the port side there were five of them hanging off the side of my boat.’

Four people died after the boat, carrying a group of migrants, capsized in the English Channel this morning.

A spokesman for a French charity said it was sent a voice message in the early hours of the morning from people in a waterlogged boat begging for help, and that babies could be heard screaming in the background.

The Royal Navy, French navy, Coastguard and RNLI lifeboats were all involved in a major rescue operation off the Kent coast on Wednesday morning.

RNLI lifeboats were launched from Dover at 3.07am, followed by more from Ramsgate and Hastings.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expressed his ‘sorrow’ at the ‘tragic loss of human life’.

A Government spokesman said: ‘At 0305 today, authorities were alerted to an incident in the Channel concerning a migrant small boat in distress.

‘After a co-ordinated search and rescue operation led by HM Coastguard, it is with regret that there have been four confirmed deaths as a result of this incident. Investigations are ongoing and we will provide further information in due course.

‘This is a truly tragic incident. Our thoughts are with the friends and families of all those who have lost their lives today.’

Government sources confirmed 43 people were rescued, with more than 30 of those pulled from the water.

Nikolai Posner, communications officer for Utopia 56 which helps migrants in Calais, said a 22-second WhatsApp voice note was left at around 2am UK time.

In the message, a man can be heard saying there was water inside the boat with ‘families and kids’ on board, he said.

Mr Posner said the charity tried to respond to the message but the reply was not received, then they contacted both the French and UK coastguards.

It is unclear why a rescue boat was only launched an hour after the charity informed authorities of the distress message.

In audio of the voice note, obtained by Channel 4 News, a man can be heard saying: ‘We’re in a boat and we have a problem. Please help. We have children and families in a boat. Water is coming in.

‘We don’t have anything for this, for feeling safety. Please help me bro. Please, please. We are in the water. We have a family.’

In Dover, a black body bag was brought ashore on a stretcher from the Dover RNLI lifeboat at around 11.15am and taken to forensics tents outside the RNLI headquarters.

There are likely to have been freezing temperatures in the Channel overnight amid a cold snap sweeping across the UK.

The tragedy came a day after Mr Sunak unveiled a raft of new measures in a bid to curb Channel crossings as he told MPs: ‘We have to stop the boats.’

More than 44,000 people have made the dangerous crossing this year, Government figures show.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman expressed her ‘profound sadness’ at the news and said: ‘These are the days that we dread. Crossing the Channel in unseaworthy vessels is a lethally dangerous endeavour.

‘It is for this reason, above all, that we are working so hard to destroy the business model of the people smugglers – evil, organised criminals who treat human beings as cargo.’

Campaigners sought to blame the Government’s ‘hostile’ asylum policies for the deaths which they said were “predictable and avoidable”, while Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said the incident showed ‘debates about asylum seekers are not about statistics, but precious human lives’.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Source: Read Full Article