Channel migrants: Folkestone vigil for anniversary of mass drowning

A candlelight vigil has been held to mark a year since a migrant mass drowning in the English Channel.

On 24 November 2021, a boat carrying 33 people sank in the Channel, leaving only two survivors.

The death toll included 21 men, seven women - one of which was pregnant - and three children. Four bodies were never recovered.

People gathered on the beach at Folkestone to mark the first anniversary.

Bridget Chapman, organiser of the vigil, said: "We're here tonight to remember them, to remember all of them, and to demand that we have safe routes available for people, so that they don't feel they have no other option but to risk their lives in a boat."

Growing evidence suggests French rescue services failed to respond adequately to the phone calls they received from the migrants on the boat.

Relatives of those who died have written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak demanding justice.

So far this year more than 42,000 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats, compared with over 28,000 for the whole of 2021.

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