Four migrants have died after a boat capsized during an attempt to cross the English Channel, according to the French coastguard.

Overnight, a navy patrol boat reported that migrants had fallen into the sea off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France.

Four people found “unconscious” could not be saved, police added, while 63 were rescued.

A helicopter and fishing vessel also helped in the rescue effort.

UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described the incident as “truly awful”.

The coastguard said several people fell into the sea after part of their boat “deflated”.

The initial alert was raised at 04:30 local time (03:30 BST), with a helicopter arriving around 30 minutes later. It found several people “drifting in the water while others were still clinging to the broken rubber dingy”.

14 people were rescued by the fishing vessel and 49 others by the French navy ship, the coastguard said.

“All the shipwrecked individuals were then brought ashore in Boulogne and taken care of by the emergency services on land.”

UK Home Office figures show 484 migrants crossed the English Channel on Monday and Tuesday.

On 18 June, 882 people crossed the Channel on 15 small boats – a new record for the year so far.

According to Home Office data, those arrivals were the highest in a single day since October 2022.

Over 13,000 people have crossed the Channel so far this year.

Reacting to the deaths, the home secretary said: “Criminal gangs are making vast profit from putting lives at risk.

“We are accelerating action with international partners to pursue and bring down dangerous smuggler gangs.”

Earlier this week, the new Labour government set out plans to tackle the small boat crisis.

Ms Cooper said she would appoint a leader of the UK’s new Border Security Command within weeks.

The government hopes the new body will reduce small boat crossings in the English Channel.