French authorities said at least four people, two men and two women, died Thursday while trying to board an inflatable dinghy to make the perilous sea crossing between northern France and the UK.
The prefect of Pas-de-Calais, in northern France, François-Xavier Lauch, indicated that 38 other people had been rescued, including one who was in a condition requiring emergency medical intervention.
He spoke while rescue operations were still underway on Equihen beach on Thursday morning.
Mr. Lauch said the migrants were swept away by dangerous currents as they tried to board a "water taxi," the name given by authorities to small motorboats, usually inflatable, used by smugglers to pick up people along large stretches of the northern coast of France.
Thursday's incident occurred on a vast stretch of sand, bordered by dunes and a forest where people attempting this perilous crossing hide, sometimes for several days at a time, waiting for boats and favorable weather and sea conditions.
Attempts to cross and deaths have increased sharply in recent days.
French maritime authorities announced on Wednesday that 102 people had been rescued in two separate operations as they attempted to cross the English Channel.
Last week, two people died in a similar accident off the north coast of Calais.
