Three British men with no sailing experience, no safety packs and only two lifejackets between them were in the hands of the French police yesterday after crossing the Channel in a 12ft motorboat.
The trio, believed to be in their 20s, were taken into custody early yesterday evening by French police who suspected them of entering the country illegally. None of the men was carrying a passport.
An air and sea rescue operation involving a helicopter, a spotter plane, three lifeboats and two search teams had been launched after the mother of one of the men, who reportedly said that her son had “mental health issues”, reported him missing at 10.30am.
The search continued for more than seven hours before the Dover Coastguard received word from the French police that the men had come ashore between Cap Gris Nez and Calais.
Murray Milligan, of Dover Coastguard, said: “This is an extremely busy shipping lane and we understand that none of the three had any experience in sailing or navigation, which made this a particularly dangerous undertaking.”
Another spokesman for the coastguard added: “It is a miracle they are alive. It was a very small boat and they were very lucky the weather did not turn against them. They also had no safety packs on board and only two lifejackets between them.”
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