French Magistrates Probing 27 Migrant Deaths File Charges Against English Channel Maritime Rescuers

French Magistrates Probing 27 Migrant Deaths File Charges Against English Channel Maritime Rescuers
A damaged inflatable small boat on the shore in Wimereux, Calais, northern France, on Nov. 25, 2021. Michel Spingler/AP Photo
The Associated Press
Updated:

PARIS—French magistrates on Thursday filed preliminary charges against five French maritime rescue personnel in a probe of the deadly sinking of a flimsy migrant craft in the English Channel in 2021 that killed 27 people.

The five, all military personnel, were handed a preliminary charge of not assisting people in danger, judicial authorities said.