Two women died after a boat carrying about 80 illegal migrants trying to cross to Britain from France capsized near Calais, the local French administration said on Sunday.
"We regret to say that we found two people, two women, who had died," said Christophe Marx, an official for the Pas-de-Calais administration, adding that authorities had rescued the others.
The deaths highlight the difficulties faced by Britain and France over tackling small boats transporting illegal migrants illegally across the English Channel, while concerns over immigration numbers have driven up support for parties such as Reform UK and France's National Rally (RN) party.
Last month, Britain said it would pay France up to £660 million ($895.8 million) under a controversial three-year border security deal to try to clamp down on illegal migrant crossings of the channel, with part of the funding contingent on results.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Editing by William Maclean)
