Child and two women killed in Channel crossing stampede

A 10-year-old child and two women died on Monday during an attempt to cross the English Channel from France, in what French authorities believe was a stampede aboard an overcrowded inflatable boat.

The vessel, described as a "taxi boat," ran into difficulty off the northern French coast, and those on board called for help, authorities said. Such boats typically pick up migrants from beaches in northern France, where people wade into the sea to board them before attempting the crossing.

A French maritime rescue vessel took 105 people aboard, according to the maritime prefecture. An intensive care team flown in by helicopter declared the child and the two women dead. The women were thought to be in their 30s, the regional government said in a separate statement.

Nine other people needed medical treatment.

"According to the initial findings of the investigation, it appears the deaths were caused by a stampede," the regional government said, adding that the precise circumstances would have to be established by a judicial investigation led by a prosecutor in the northern port of Boulogne.