UK police arrest man after four die during Channel crossing attempt

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said a Sudanese man was detained on suspicion of ‘endangering another during a journey by sea to the UK’.British police have arrested a Sudanese man on suspicion of “endangering another” person after four people died while trying to cross the English Channel from France.The National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Friday that a 27-year-old man, who remains unnamed, was detained at a migrant processing centre in Manston, southern England.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3UK’s Mandelson tried to get Epstein’s ‘goddaughter’ into 10 Downing Streetlist 2 of 3Sorry Keir Starmer, the Middle East does not listen to Britain any morelist 3 of 3UK PM Keir Starmer visits Gulf to shore up ‘fragile’ US-Iran ceasefireend of listAccording to an NCA statement, the suspect was arrested on suspicion of “endangering another during a journey by sea to the UK” under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act.The arrest comes a day after two men and two women were swept away by the current after trying to board a small boat with dozens of others off the coast of Saint-Etienne-au-Mont, near Calais in northern France, on Thursday.So-called water-taxis are inflatable boats that cruise along the coastline picking up migrants and refugees who wade into shallow waters to climb on board, in a method to avoid security forces from stopping the boats from launching.Last week, two men, one Sudanese and the other Afghan, died trying to make a similar crossing in the first reported deaths in the Channel this year.The NCA said the suspect was being held and interviewed by officers who are also speaking to those who made the journey, which included 74 people, of whom 38 were returned to France.The statement added that there was an ongoing investigation into the circumstances of the deaths of the four people and the launch of the boat, led by French prosecutors.NCA Deputy Director Craig Turner said the agency would work with “colleagues at home and abroad” to do “all we can to identify and bring to justice those responsible for these four tragic deaths”.