Women die after boat carrying 82 people has engine trouble and runs aground near Calais, French authorities say.

Two women thought to be from Sudan have died while trying to cross from northern France to the United Kingdom in a small boat, French officials say.

The women, believed to be in their 20s, were on board a boat carrying 82 people, Christophe Marx, a regional government official, told reporters on Sunday.

The boat set out to sea during the night from Saturday to Sunday but “the engine wouldn’t start” and the boat began to drift, Marx said. Seventeen people were rescued at sea and taken to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer.

The boat with the remaining 65 people on board eventually ran aground on a beach near Neufchatel-Hardelot, about 12km (7 miles) south of Boulogne-sur-Mer, he said, adding that the victims had been found “dead inside the boat”.

They are believed to have been “crushed or asphyxiated as unfortunately often happens on boats … where too many people are packed in”, he said.

The women were believed to have come from Sudan, he said, adding that an investigation was under way.

Thirteen people with moderate injuries and three with serious wounds, including burn victims, were taken to hospital.

They were “being treated and will be interviewed by border police to determine who is responsible for this crossing”, Marx said.

The deaths highlight the difficulties faced by Britain and France in tackling small boats transporting migrants and refugees across the English Channel while concerns over immigration numbers have driven up support for far-right parties, such as Reform UK and France’s National Rally party.

Two people died off Gravelines, France, on April 1 while trying to reach the UK. On April 9, two men and two women died, swept away by currents.

In 2025, at least 29 people died at sea in the region, according to an AFP news agency tally based on official French and British sources.

Last month, Britain said it would pay France up to 660 million pounds ($895.8m) under a three-year border security deal to try to clamp down on migrants and refugees crossing the Channel with part of the funding contingent on results.

France will increase the number of police and gendarmes patrolling the coast while the British government will increase its contribution to the costs of the operation.

According to French officials, the number of arrivals in Britain so far this year has been drastically cut from 2025.