A baby has died after an for Britain sank in the English Channel.
The tragedy unfolded off the coast of the French town of Wissant on Thursday night, French maritime authorities confirmed.
65 people were rescued but a 'baby was found unconscious and sadly declared dead'.
Four ships, including a French Navy vessel, and a helicopter were involved in the operation to help those on board the stricken craft.
A statement from French maritime authorities said: "On the evening of Thursday, October 17, the departure of a migrant boat off the coast of Wissant was reported to the Gris-Nez regional operational surveillance and rescue centre (CROSS).
"Once on site, the resources noted that the boat, which was heavily loaded, was in difficulty and that some of the people were in the water. The resources then put their semi-rigid boats in the water and began to recover the people in difficulty."
The statement added that a boat named Abeille Normandie took 65 people on board, and another vessel, the Minck, recovered an "an unconscious infant" who was transferred aboard the Abeille Normandie .
It added paramedics from the helicopter boarded the Abeille Normandie but that sadly the child was "declared dead by the dispatching doctor".
The statement continued: "The area of the shipwreck having been fully investigated, the maritime prefect of the Channel and the North Sea decided to interrupt the searches led by the CROSS.
"The 65 castaways and the deceased infant rescued by the Abeille Normandie were then dropped off at the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
"Once at the quayside, all the castaways were taken care of by land rescue services and border police."
A post by the French Préfecture maritime Manche et mer du Nord on X confirmed the death of the child and shared images of two vessels involved in the rescue operation.
Earlier this week it emerged more than 62,000 migrants could be granted asylum in the UK as the Government attempts to clear the backlog of claims waiting to be dealt with.
The Refugee Council estimates the number of asylum applications waiting to be determined could stand at 118,063 in January now Labour has scrapped plans to send migrants to Rwanda and started processing claims again.
Analysis of official data, based on grant rates in the year to June, indicates as many as 62,801 more people could be recognised as refugees in the UK, according to the migrant charity.
It said the research suggests the total backlog at the start of next year could be 59,000 lower than at the time of the July election and if no action had been taken to change government policy.
It comes as Downing Street insisted the Government was "committed" to ending the use of asylum hotels amid claims the Home Office is considering reopening some previously closed by the Conservatives.
