More than 60 people were crammed onto the inflatable boat, many of them dangling their feet over the sides.
A dangerously overcrowded migrant boat crossing the Channel (Image: Steve Finn)
This is the horrifying moment a migrant dinghy destined for Britain looked perilously close to sinking in the English Channel.
Around 60 people were crammed onto the inflatable boat, many of them dangling their feet over the sides.
Others – including children – were sitting in the middle on a piece of plywood which was holding the boat together, it is understood.
Astonishing pictures obtained by the Daily Express shows how the middle of the boat bowed, dropping lower than the bow and stern under the sheer weight as it struggled through the water.
A migrant boat dangerously low in the water (Image: Steve Finn)
Fear and discomfort was etched across the faces of many of the migrants onboard the dinghy, which was still in French waters.
Border Force sources have told the Daily Express the bigger boats – powered by shoddy engines made in China – cannot always break through the waves, leaving them exposed to the Channel’s currents.
A French warship shadowed the vessel until it was intercepted by the waiting Border Force Hurricane.
A migrant boat nearly sinking under its own weight (Image: Steve Finn)
Dame Priti Patel told the Daily Express as she launched her campaign to become the next leader of the Conservatives: “It is very obvious, Keir Starmer, Labour do not have a plan.
“One of the most damning things they have done is effectively tear up the operational plan that I put in place.
“I would bring in the Nationality and Borders Act. I would move forward with the New Plan for Immigration. We need to have strong laws and strong deterrents in place.
“And we should be looking at third country [return deals.]
“The sad thing is, we will never know now whether that Rwanda policy will work, because the Government has just torn it up.”
The bow of the boat lifting on a wave (Image: Steve Finn)
More than 60 migrants were packed into this dinghy (Image: Steve Finn)
The Channel crisis has intensified (Image: Steve Finn)
During a visit to Western Jet Foil, Dover, the Daily Express heard harrowing details of how migrants drown.
As the boats begin to deflate and take on water, a section of the vessel will begin to fold in on itself.
Amid the terror and panic, some migrants scramble to the front of the sinking boat, causing the dinghy’s integrity to fail further.
And those trapped at the back are unable to escape, submerged under the water, as the boat continues to collapse on top of them.
