Dozens of migrants were rescued on Friday (Image: Getty)
A total of 68 migrants have been rescued from a small boat which was in difficulty off Calais, French authorities have said.
The incident, which took place on Friday, was caused by engine failure, they added.
The French coastguard patrol boat Jacques Oudart Fourmentin (JOF) had located the vessel in the area off the old Walde lighthouse near Calais, the country’s Maritime Prefect confirmed, as per .
Two rigid inflatable boats were launched by the JOF to get the people onboard to safety, the outlet reported.
A spokesperson for the Maritime Prefecture, the French government’s representative at sea, said: “The JOF then retrieves on board 68 migrants present on the boat and then drops them off at the dock in Calais where they are taken care of by the land rescue services.”
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They added: “The Maritime Prefect of the English Channel and the North Sea warns anyone who plans to cross the English Channel about the risks involved.
“This maritime sector is one of the busiest areas in the world, with more than 600 merchant ships transiting there per day and weather conditions are often difficult (120 days of wind greater than or equal to force 7 on average per year for example), it is therefore a particularly dangerous sector, especially in the middle of winter for precarious and overloaded boats.”
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