Police fear ringleaders of migrant boat tragedy are already claiming asylum in Britain: Investigators say group of men who 'rushed' dinghy are 'responsible' for the five deaths - as another 200 make crossing in last 24 hours

French police fear the criminals responsible for the deaths of five migrants including a little girl in the English Channel could already be claiming asylum in Britain.

In the last 24 hours, around 200 migrants have reportedly tried to cross the Channel to reach the UK. 

Yesterday, a little girl between the ages of four and seven was one of five migrants who drowned after their rubber dinghy capsized off the coast of northern France. 

A massively overcrowded small boat with 112 people on board briefly ran aground off the northern French coast at Wimereux, near Boulogne-sur-Mer.

This caused panic and after people stood up, the boat became unbalanced and flipped over, throwing dozens of people including women and children into the cold water.

Despite this, 58 people remained onboard and continued on their journey to Britain, under escort by the French Navy. 

Now it has emerged that 'a group of young men' thought to be Eritreans or Sudanese 'rushed the boat' just as it set off.

'These are the men who could well be responsible for the deaths,' an investigating source said on Wednesday.

'The problem is that they are already in Britain, and undoubtedly claiming asylum'.

A criminal investigation into the deaths has been opened by the Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor. 

It came just hours after Rishi Sunak's Rwanda Bill to deter migrants from making the perilous crossing was passed in Parliament.

Rishi Sunak vowed to let nothing 'stand in our way' yesterday as he gears up to send Channel migrants to Rwanda by July after the Government's deportation plan was finally passed by Parliament.

Last year, there were 67,337 asylum applications to the UK. Of those, 29,437 came from people who arrived in small boats.

The Rwanda scheme's capacity is 200 people per year. It means if the scheme had been running last year, it would have deported less than 0.7 per cent of small boat migrants.

In terms of the cost of the journey per person, for the first 300 migrants sent to Rwanda, it will cost the Government £1.8million per head, Whitehall's official spending watchdog said.

After the incident yesterday, the Prime Minister said the 'tragic' incident reported in the Channel 'underscores' the need for the deterrent effect of the Rwanda plan.

The French Maritime Prefecture has published a photo of the boat just after the disaster.

It shows mainly men sat on each side of the boat, with one leg inside, and the other touching the water.

Some of those onboard appear to be punching the air in triumph and waving at the camera.

Those pictured 'include the prime suspects' in the investigation, the French source said.

Three men, a woman and a little girl drowned after the dinghy they were on flipped over in the early hours of this morning off the coast of northern France, casting around 112 people into the Channel. 

Footage of the moments before the boat launched showed scores of people running towards the sea as they tried to beat back the French officers on Wimereux beach in northern France early on Tuesday morning.

Once the migrants were in the water, the French police said there was nothing more they could do as they didn't have a boat.

Moments later, the boat hit a sandbank and caused panic that led to the boat capsizing and five people - including a little girl - drowning.

Only then did French police scramble a boat to save the remaining survivors.

However, when some of the migrants refused to be rescued and restarted the boat's engine, the French Navy instead escorted them onwards towards Britain, which they reached at around lunchtime on Tuesday. 

Guirec Le Bras, the Boulogne prosecutor, has opened an enquiry into 'manslaughter, criminal association and the assistance of foreigners in an irregular situation.'

Some alleged smugglers suspected of charging up to £1000-a-head for the voyage to Britain have already been arrested and their nautical equipment confiscated, Mr Le Bras said.

This included boats similar to the one used, which are designed for 20 people maximum.

Mr Le Bras also confirmed that police had fought running battles with police in the lead up to the three men, a woman in her early 30s, and the the girl aged between four and seven drowning.

Video footage showed groups of people heading towards the English Channel as they tried to evade the officers between 3am and 6am on Monday.

Once the migrants were in the water, police retreated, in accordance with safety regulations, leaving around five boats to head towards England.

The father of the girl was rescued by emergency services and taken to Wimereux beach, where he burst into tears and fell into the arms of a refugee charity worker.

Dany Patoux, of the Osmose 62 refugee charity, said: 'We knew the little girl well. We have photos with her, with a big smile on her face, in the hope of a better life.

'But now, everything is ruined. Her father fell into our arms right away. He was crying, in a daze. He saw his little daughter die before his eyes.'

The tragedy came hours after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Rwanda Bill to deter migrants from making the perilous crossing was passed in Parliament.

He vowed to let nothing 'stand in our way', as he geared up to send Channel migrants to Rwanda, in Africa, as part of a deportation plan.

A total of 14 UK-bound migrants have drowned in the English Channel so far this year alone.

Five migrants drowned while trying to get to Britain from Wimereux beach on January 14.

In August last year, six people died after a boat carrying migrants sank in the Channel off the French coast, and in November 2021, at least 27 migrants died after a dinghy sank while heading to the UK – the highest recorded number of deaths from a single incident.