# Moment packed small boat set for the UK gets caught on sandbank on a French beach… as police watch on

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/moment-packed-small-boat-set-for-the-uk-gets-caught-on-sandbank-on-a-french-beach-as-police-watch-on/
- Published: 2026-07-30T23:12:15+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-25T03:22:43+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16017797/moment-packed-small-boat-UK-caught-sandbank-French-beach-police.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Government, Politics, UK, World

## Key points

- Migrants' boat stuck in shallow French water; authorities made no attempt to stop crossing.
- Incident undermines government claims that Channel crisis response is working.
- At least four people died in separate Channel crossing attempts during this period.

## Summary

Footage captured by journalist Christian Drogan shows a small boat carrying approximately 80 migrants running aground in shallow water off a beach near Boulogne at around 1:30am on Thursday. The incident occurred just 24 hours after Prime Minister Andy Burnham defended his government's handling of the Channel migration crisis, claiming statistics showed "the plan is working". The footage shows French authorities making no attempt to intervene despite the boat being stuck in water described as below waist height, eventually allowing it to be refloated and head towards the Kent coast.

The stranded boat sparked violent altercations among passengers as they attempted to free it from the sand, with one migrant being thrown overboard. A helicopter with a searchlight was operating nearby, and paramedics can be seen attempting to resuscitate an injured migrant on the beach. The incident coincided with four deaths in separate Channel crossing attempts—three women rescued off Dunkirk who were later pronounced dead, and a man in his 30s who died on the same stretch of beach where Drogan was filming, whilst a baby also required resuscitation after falling into the water.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.