Three children, seven women and 17 men died trying to cross the English Channel on Wednesday, it has been confirmed.
An expectant mother was among the dead, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin confirmed today.
It’s feared the tragedy could have occurred when a container ship collided with a boat described as a ‘floating death trap’.
Only two people survived the disaster, one believed to be an Iraqi Kurd and another a Somalian.
French authorities have arrested four suspected people traffickers in connection with the incident.
Meanwhile, the regional prosecutor has opened an investigation into aggravated manslaughter.
Autopsies will take place in Lille ‘over the next few days’, Carole Etienne, the public prosecutor who is leading a criminal enquiry into the tragedy, has said.
Boris Johnson warned smugglers are ‘getting away with murder’ after he chaired an emergency Cobra meeting last night.
He has urged France to take action to stem the flow of crossings and agree to joint police patrols along the French Channel coast.
The PM said: ‘This disaster underscores how dangerous it is to cross the Channel in this way, and it also shows how vital it is that we now step up our efforts to break the business model of the gangsters who are sending people to sea in this way.’
He added: ‘The operation being conducted by our friends on the beaches, supported as you know with £54 million from the UK, the technical support we’ve been giving, hasn’t been enough.
‘Our offer is to increase our support but also to work together with our partners on the beaches concerned, on the launching grounds for these boats.
‘That’s something I hope will be acceptable now in view of what has happened because there is no doubt the gangs concerned will continue to deceive people, to put people’s lives at risk and to get away with murder.’
Downing Street said they had agreed to ‘keep all options on the table’ in their efforts to break up human trafficking gangs.
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