Three men are arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration and entering the UK illegally after five people - including a four-year-old girl - died trying to cross Channel

Three people were arrested today on suspicion of immigration offences after five migrants including a child died as they tried to cross the Channel.

The National Crime Agency said investigators are questioning two men from Sudan aged 19 and 22, and a third 22-year-old suspect from south Sudan over the tragedy.

They were arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration and entering the UK illegally. 

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, the surviving passengers remained onboard and continued on their journey to Britain, under escort by the French Navy. The girl who died was aged between four and seven.

Craig Turner, deputy director of investigations for the National Crime Agency said today: 'This tragic incident once again demonstrates the threat to life posed by these crossings and bring into focus why it is so important to target the criminal gangs involved in organising them.

'We will do all we can with partners in the UK and France to secure evidence, identify those responsible for this event, and bring them to justice.'

A group of young men thought to be Eritreans or Sudanese 'rushed the boat' just as it set off, according to claims. 

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

'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.

The Prime Minister said the 'tragic' incident '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.