English Channel: Girl, 7, dies after boat capsizes near Dunkirk in France

File photo of a French Police officer looking out over a beach in France

A seven-year-old girl has died after a small boat attempting to reach the English Channel capsized in northern France.

Officials said the boat was carrying 16 migrants when it sank a few kilometres from the coast of Dunkirk.

The boat "was not appropriately sized to carry so many people," the local authority said in a statement.

It added the girl's parents, who were travelling with three more children, were taken to a hospital in Dunkirk.

Local authority Préfet du Nord said police and firefighters were alerted to the capsized boat by a walker.

In a statement it added officials believed the vessel was "probably stolen" and was not big enough to support the amount of people on board.

"A couple, whose origin is being determined, with their four children, including the mother who is pregnant, were on board," Préfet du Nord said.

"The couple's little daughter, aged 7, died from drowning."

Préfet du Nord said two men and six young children were taken to hospital, but their condition was not life-threatening.

Prosecutors in Dunkirk also said "several people are in custody" over the incident, AFP news agency reported.

The latest death comes after three migrants died on Wednesday trying to cross the English Channel after their boat got into difficulty.

It was one of several incidents, with a total of 249 people rescued throughout the day.

Home Office figures show that more than 2,000 migrants have arrived in the UK so far this year.