Lifeboat shields migrants' dinghy from ferry after 'persons in water' warning

A LIFEBOAT crew intervened to stop a dinghy full of suspected migrants from being run down by a 34,000-ton ferry amid chaos in the Channel.

- By Michael Knowles

Witnesses said some of the 13 inflatables detected on Friday - when 1,072 people crossed to the UK - had blundered into shipping lanes, triggering fears of a disaster.

French coast guards urged ferries still in UK waters "to keep clear of oncoming migrant dinghies".

One Border Force vessel went to pick up dozens of small-boat passengers as a French rescue ship tried to alert the captain of the Cote des Dunes ferry to their presence.

But witnesses said that another group of asylum seekers were discovered nearby, so the Border Force boat had to be diverted.

Catastrophe

The lifeboat raced in and stayed with the dinghy to halt a catastrophe on one of the world's busiest shipping routes.