Channel migrant deaths: More than 500 people crossed Channel on day of fatal boat sinking

​A total of 509 people crossed the English Channel in ten boats on the day six died when a boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of France.

The latest Home Office figures take the provisional total for the past three days alone to more than 1,600, with more than 16,600 having made the journey so far this year.

They mark a further setback for the UK Government's "stop the boats" pledge, which is one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's five key priorities for his leadership.

More than 100,000 people have now made the journey since 2018, according to Home Office figures. At least six people died and at least 58 – many of them Afghans – were rescued after a boat got into difficulty of the coast of Sangatte on Saturday.

More than 100,000 people have now made the journey across the Channel since 2018. Picture: AFP via Getty Images

According to the accounts of survivors, around 65 people had originally boarded the overloaded vessel before a passing ship saw it sinking and raised the alarm around 4:20am.

The Government is under renewed pressure to tackle the crisis of migrant crossings following the incident.

MPs have called for action against criminal people-smuggling gangs profiting from the journeys, while campaigners have described the deaths as an "appalling and preventable tragedy".

Conservative backbencher and former party chairman Sir Jake Berry said: "We must put a stop to the vile people smugglers who trade in human misery and whose actions result in the loss of life."

A group of migrants who arrived in the UK earlier this week are transported from the migrant reception compound in Dover, Kent. Picture: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

Meanwhile, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said action to deter criminal gangs facilitating the journeys was "desperately" needed. Care4Calais said the incident was an "appalling and preventable tragedy", while the Refugee Council warned "more people will die" unless more safe routes to the UK are created.

Home secretary Suella Braverman described the incident as a "tragic loss of life" and said she had chaired a meeting with Border Force officials later on Saturday.

It comes after the Government was accused of allowing its "small boats week" of linked announcements on immigration to descend into farce following the removal of dozens of asylum seekers from the Bibby Stockholm barge.

Senior Conservative backbencher David Davis said the "startling incompetence" of the Home Office had been laid bare after all 39 people on board the 500-capacity vessel were disembarked due to the discovery of Legionella bacteria in the water supply.

However, ministers intend to push on with plans to hire more barges to house asylum seekers, as well as student halls and former office blocks, it has been reported.

The Home Office has said the health and welfare of asylum seekers "remains of the utmost priority" and that the evacuation took place as a precautionary measure, with all protocol and advice followed.

Minister David TC Davies defended the Government's handling of the setback, saying its evacuation of people from the vessel "actually demonstrates how we're putting the safety of people first".

But shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said a "better, fairer system" was needed to tackle the backlog of asylum applications and cut the need for temporary accommodation.

She told the same programme that prosecutions of people smugglers were "falling" under the Government.

Conservative MP Tim Loughton said the Government's "small boats week" of linked announcements on immigration was a "hostage to fortune".