One dead and dozens rescued in latest attempt to cross Channel

A woman has died trying to cross the Channel in an overcrowded dinghy, as a number of small boats made the dangerous journey over the weekend.

Thirty-four others were rescued from what was described as a “migrant boat” off the northern French port of Calais, after a call for help was made in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to French authorities.

The person who lost their life is understood to be a Syrian woman who was suffocated. The majority of those onboard were also from Syria, including members of her family.

The latest incident follows the deaths of at least six people in three separate incidents in the Channel between 12 and 19 July. Children were among a group of about 50 people who were brought into Dover on Saturday onboard a UK Border Force vessel.

The woman who died on Sunday was found unconscious during the rescue operation in the early hours of the morning, the French maritime authority Premar said. The authority told the Agence France-Presse media agency that the death had been the result of “a new phenomenon of people dying at sea not by drowning [but] by illness or in a crush”.

They were declared dead after being airlifted to Boulogne-sur-Mer hospital by a French naval helicopter.

The organisation Alarm Phone, which passes on information about small boats in distress to rescue services, said a number of recent incidents involved overcrowded boats with as many as 86 people onboard. They alleged the extreme overcrowding was linked to an increase in efforts by authorities since Britain and France reached a “stop the boats” deal at the start of the year.

While some people were taken off, several were said to have refused the assistance offered during the rescue and the vessel was allowed to continue, under surveillance by a French patrol boat.

“Given the risks of falling overboard or injury to people in the event of forced intervention, the decision was made to let the other people on the boat continue on their way,” Premar said in a statement.

One Syrian asylum seeker, who was trying to get into a dinghy at a similar time to the woman who died, told the Guardian smugglers were taking greater risks to avoid being caught by the French police.

“The smugglers took us through the forest and I thought there were 15 of us getting into the boat. But when we got to the beach there were 100. The French police destroyed two of the dinghies so we could not travel,” they said, adding that they were still determined to cross.

In the week up to Saturday, 342 people crossed the Channel in seven boats, UK Home Office figures show. More than 12,000 people have made the crossing so far this year, according to provisional figures released in mid-June.

The figure was 18% higher than for the equivalent point last year, by which time 10,472 people had made the crossing.