Channel deaths: Four migrants drowned, inquest hears

Lifeboats and a nearby fishing boat helped with the rescue

The provisional cause of death of four people who died when a boat capsized in the Channel on 14 December was drowning, an inquest has heard.

Kent area coroner Katrina Hepburn, opening the inquest at County Hall in Maidstone on Friday, said the victims were still unidentified.

It was "possible" two of them were from Afghanistan, while the others were Senegalese, a Kent Police report said.

Thirty-nine people were rescued when a dinghy ran into difficulties.

The report continued: "The provisional cause of death is consistent with drowning."

Ms Hepburn suspended proceedings until a later date amid an ongoing police investigation.

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