BOULOGNE MER: Three people are believed to have been killed and three others were missing in two separate incidents as migrants attempted to cross the English Channel, French officials said on Wednesday.

The latest tragedies, which took place in northern France, bring the number of deaths this year linked to crossings in overcrowded dinghies to at least 23, according to a tally based on official French data.

Laurent Touvet, the top state official for the northern region of Pas-de-Calais, said the three victims were a female and two males. `They are young people,` the prefect told reporters, adding there might have been two minors among the victims.

The tragedy occurred off the coast of Sangatte, he said. At around Sam Wednesday, a tugboat rescued a group of migrants, bringing them to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer. Three people, presumably crushed to death `at the bottom of the boat`, had been found with the rescued migrants, the prefect said. Three other people were hospitalised.

Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor Cecile Gressier said they had launched an investigation. In a separate incident Tuesday night, three migrants disappeared at sea during an attempt to cross the Channel near the town of Neufchatel-Hardelot, further south.-AFP