Three people died overnight off the coast of Calais as they attempted to cross the English Channel, French authorities have said.

The Prefect of Pas-de-Calais, Laurent Touvet, indicated those who died were likely crushed to the bottom of the boat. He told reporters that smuggling gangs were responsible for the deaths – and vowed to go after them.

It was initially reported that two of the three were children, and authorities later said the victims were “young people”, with two of them possibly children. Those who died are thought to have been from Egypt and South East Asia.

Authorities said the boat was “overloaded” with more than 70 on board.

Mr Touvet also said that another three people who were on a separate boat trying to cross at Neufchâtel-Hardelot were unaccounted for.

A third boat carrying 115 people was rescued by the French navy’s patrol boat. Mr Touvet said no injuries were reported in the third boat, but it marked “probably the highest number we’ve ever seen”.

The three who died were found after France’s assistance and rescue tug, Abeille Normandie, was called to a rescue at about 05:00 local time (04:00 BST) off the coast of Sangatte, near Calais.

The French maritime authorities said 44 people were rescued from the “overloaded boat”, including the three people who were later pronounced dead and three others who were taken to hospital.

Some 28 people from the boat “refused the offered assistance and continued on their way,” the Maritime Prefecture said.

More than 20 people are thought to have lost their lives in the Channel this year. On Tuesday, a woman died after attempting to cross the Channel in a small boat carrying other migrants off the coast of Dover.

More than 30,000 people have reached the UK in small boats so far in 2025 and more than 50,000 have crossed since Labour came into power in July 2024.

Last year, 50 people died while trying to cross the Channel, according to incidents recorded by the French coastguard

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), a UN agency, tracks the number of people who die attempting to cross the Channel.

Its figures include people who were travelling to a crossing point and died in other circumstances, such as car crashes or because of medical issues.

The IOM estimates that at least 82 migrants died in 2024, making it the deadliest year on record.

The UK government has come under increased pressure over the number of small boats crossing into the UK and asylum seeker applications.

In July, France and the UK agreed on a “one in, one out” returns deal, which was designed as a deterrent to stop boats from crossing the Channel. This proposes that for each migrant the UK returns to France, another migrant who had not attempted a Channel crossing but with a strong case for asylum in Britain will come the other way.

The new Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said in a statement on Sunday that the small boat crossings were “utterly unacceptable and the vile people smugglers behind them are wreaking havoc on our borders”.

In the statement – issued just two days into her new role after a cabinet reshuffle – Mahmood said protecting UK borders was her priority and she would explore all options to restore order to the immigration system.

Home Office figures released last month showed that a record 111,000 asylum applications were made to the UK during the year to June.

The figures also showed that the number of “irregular” arrivals – meaning people who arrive in the UK via clandestine routes, such as small boats – were also up.

The government is also under pressure over housing arrangements for those seeking refuge.

Figures last month showed 32,059 asylum seekers were in hotels at the end of June – higher than before Labour took office, but well down on a peak of 56,042 in September 2023 under the previous government.

A further 74,016 were in taxpayer-funded housing, the majority of it so-called “dispersal” accommodation, such as rented flats, which is more long-term.

Labour wants to accelerate its plan to end the use of hotels, which have become a focal point for anti-migrant protests.

But the Conservatives say that if Labour had continued on the same trajectory as before the last general election – when the Tories were still in power – then there would be no more asylum hotels.

Speaking at the time Home Office figures were published then-home secretary Yvette Cooper said her government had “inherited a broken immigration and asylum system [from the Tories]”.