The body of a man found on a beach.

a dead man, “African type”was discovered on Saturday morning, November 2, on the beach of Sangatte (Pas-de-Calais) and an investigation was opened, the Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor’s office informed Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The body was discovered on Descenderie beach, where around twenty police and firefighters were present, an AFP correspondent confirmed. It was a walker who discovered the body around 8:45 a.m., the prosecutor’s office informed the press agency, adding that at the moment the identity of the deceased is unknown. The investigation was opened to “search for the causes of death.”

This discovery comes after the discovery, on Wednesday, of three bodies of immigrants on the beach of Saint-Etienne-au-Mont, near Boulogne-sur-Mer, and the death on the same day of an immigrant in an attempt to crossing.

During the night from Thursday to Friday and then during the day on Friday, 160 migrants who were trying to cross the English Channel in small boats were rescued, the maritime prefecture reported in a press release.

On October 23, three migrants also died in a shipwreck. The Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor’s office reported, at the beginning of the week, of a “ask” persistent about this shipwreck, due to a discrepancy between the number of people rescued and certain testimonies about the number of passengers.

A dangerous sector

At least 60 people have died in migrants’ attempts to cross the sea to England since the beginning of the year, making 2024 the costliest year in human lives since the phenomenon first appeared in 2018.

The worst shipwreck of the year dates back to September 3. At least twelve immigrants, half of them minors, died when their boat broke up.

Migrant canoes, often overcrowded, use one of the busiest shipping routes in the world, with more than 600 commercial ships passing through each day, making it a dangerous sector.

More than 30,000 immigrants have arrived illegally in the United Kingdom since January, crossing the English Channel in improvised boats, more than in all of last year, according to figures published Thursday by the British Home Office.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 5,600 people have been rescued and returned to the French coast, according to the Channel and North Sea maritime prefecture.