Nearly 50 migrants rescued in 2 days in busy English Channel

PARIS – French maritime authorities say 47 migrants, including two dozen children, have been rescued over two days as they tried to cross the English Channel to Britain.

The authorities said that In the first incident, on Tuesday, British authorities were alerted by a fishing boat and a French patrol boat headed to the zone where 22 people — five men, six women and 11 children — were rescued.

Before dawn on Wednesday, 25 more migrants, including three children, were found stranded on a sandbank off the French port of Calais.

A Marine helicopter plucked 12 migrants from the sandbank while the other 13 made their way to shore as the tide receded.

Migrants in small boats are regularly rescued crossing the Channel.