A first boat with 38 people on board ran into problems in the night from Saturday to Sunday off the coast of Plage Sainte-Cécile in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais department, news channel BFM reports. They were rescued by the navy and handed over to the fire brigade and border police.
Not much later, another boat with 29 people on board was intercepted at the Pas de Calais. The passengers were brought back to land. Two of them were hypothermic.
It often happens that migrants try to make the crossing from the European mainland to England. In May, 63 migrants were intercepted on the Straits of Calais, one of the busiest maritime routes in the world. The crossing is dangerous because there are often difficult weather conditions.