法国当局周一（10月5日）表示，两名男子在夜间试图穿越英吉利海峡前往英国时，在法国海岸附近海域遇难，另有两名女子因烧伤住院。这起最新的海峡悲剧发生在周日深夜，地点位于北部城市贝尔克（Berck）附近海域。官员称，两名女子大面积烧伤，伤势不危及生命，已被送往医院。
Two men died off the French coast overnight while attempting to cross the Channel to Britain, while two women were hospitalized with burns, French authorities said Monday, October 5. The latest Channel tragedy took place off the coast of the northern town of Berck late Sunday. Two women suffering from burns over large areas of their bodies were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.
地区日报《北方之声》（La Voix du Nord）报道称，烧伤是由汽油与海水混合产生的化学反应引起的。据该报报道，周日夜间，一艘载有120人的船只出发，导致约20名未能登船的移民被困在水中。
La Voix du Nord, a regional daily newspaper, said that the burns were caused by a chemical reaction that occurs when gasoline mixes with seawater. According to the report, a boat carrying 120 people set off on Sunday night, leaving about 20 migrants stranded in the water after they were unable to board.
《北方之声》称，救援人员救起了两名心脏骤停的男子和两名分别20岁和26岁的索马里受伤女子。检察官已对死亡事件展开调查。
Rescuers recovered two men, who were in cardiac arrest, and two Somali women, aged 20 and 26, who were injured, La Voix du Nord said. Prosecutors launched an investigation into the deaths.
上周另一次穿越尝试中，包括一名10岁儿童在内的三人死亡。据法新社根据官方来源统计，今年年初以来，法英海上边境已有至少24名移民死亡。
Three people, including a 10-year-old child, died during another attempted crossing last week. There have now been at least 24 migrant deaths at the Franco-British maritime border since the start of the year, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on official sources.
长期以来，法国一直是无签证寻求庇护者前往英国的中转站。他们向偷渡者支付数千美元，乘坐不稳定且往往拥挤不堪的橡皮艇，进行穿越世界上最繁忙航运路线之一的危险非法旅程。
France has long been a staging post for asylum seekers without visas hoping to cross the sea to Britain. They pay smugglers thousands of dollars to board unstable and often overcrowded rubber dinghies to make the hazardous illegal journey across one of the world's busiest shipping routes.