More migrants cross Channel as annual total nears 30,000
Young children wrapped in blankets were among large numbers of migrants brought ashore on Wednesday morning as the total number of people crossing the Channel to the UK this year nears 30,000.
People wearing winter coats, some carrying youngsters, climbed down a ladder from a packed RNLI lifeboat and on to the beach at Dungeness, Kent. They then boarded buses and were taken to be processed.
The number of arrivals so far suggests the 30,000 milestone could be reached by the end of the day.
Some 93 people were recorded by the Ministry of Defence making the journey in four boats on Tuesday, taking the provisional total for 2022 so far to 29,799.
This is higher than for the whole of last year (28,526).
Last week nearly 40 people were rescued from the Channel when their boat sank off the Kent coast.
Government officials said last month that it was remarkable there had not been any serious incidents, such as drownings, so far this year as the average number of people per boat rose to 44, compared with 28 in 2021.
Published: by Radio NewsHub