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

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

Early on Wednesday morning, a French tugboat rescued a group of 44 migrants, bringing them to the northern port of Boulogne-sur-Mer.

Three unconscious people had been found with the rescued migrants, Laurent Touvet, the top state official for the northern region of Pas-de-Calais, told reporters.

Presumably crushed to death "at the bottom of the boat",

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