Pregnant women and three children among 27 drowned in Channel

Victims mostly Kurds from Iraq or Iran, say French authorities, as criminal investigation begins

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Pregnant women and three children were among the 27 people, mostly Kurds from Iraq or Iran, who drowned trying to cross the Channel in an inflatable boat, French authorities have said.

Two male survivors, an Iraqi and a Somali, were being treated for exhaustion and hypothermia in a Calais hospital. A criminal investigation has been opened by the public prosecutor in Lille, with four men suspected of direct involvement" in the attempted crossing arrested on Wednesday and a fifth detained early on Thursday morning.