LONDON — French and British vessels saved 157 migrants after their boat caught fire while trying to cross the Channel Tuesday, French authorities said, in one of the largest rescue operations since 2018.”A small boat caught fire on the boundary between French and British waters, forcing its occupants to jump overboard” on Tuesday morning, the prefect’s office in the Pas-de-Calais region saidThe UK Coastguard said the boat caught fire while still in French waters.The boat had been flagged to a French surveillance and rescue center on Monday and was being monitored, it said.Overnight, five people required rescue and were taken aboard a French lifeboat.The rest on board refused help and continued their attempt to cross to the UK, it said.”Given the structural fragility of the boats, which are systematically overloaded, the decision is taken not to force the migrants to board the state’s rescue vessels, to avoid putting their lives at risk in the event of a shipwreck.”But the maritime prefecture said the boat’s engine caught fire while attempting a crossing Tuesday morning, causing it to deteriorate “very rapidly” while in a French search and rescue region of the Channel.Multiple resources were deployed to the scene including French vessels, a French Navy helicopter, two British Border Force vessels and an RNLI boat.A total of 157 people were rescued and will be disembarked at Boulogne-sur-Mer in France in the afternoon, the prefecture said.It noted that 30 people were taken aboard a French Navy rescue ship, 73 aboard another French search and rescue ship and 54 on British vessels.
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