Three die, including a child, after Channel crossing boat gets into trouble

Three people, including a child, died on Monday after an inflatable boat carrying 105 people got into difficulty during an attempted crossing from France to Britain, French authorities said. The other two people who died were women. French maritime police received a distress call and sent rescuers to the vessel off the northern coast.

The incident occurred despite relatively calm conditions at sea, according to Reuters' account of the authorities' statement. Emergency personnel treated three passengers, but they could not be saved. Reports available on Monday did not establish why the boat encountered trouble or the full sequence of events; those questions should not be answered by assumption.

The English Channel is a short crossing on a map but a hazardous journey in a crowded inflatable craft. This latest loss will sharpen scrutiny of rescue arrangements and the routes used by people trying to reach the United Kingdom. The death toll in this article reflects the first official reports and may be revised as authorities examine the incident.