A teenage migrant who was trying to get to the UK has been found dead on a beach near to Calais in France.
The 16-year-old from Sudan disappeared at sea while attempting to cross the English Channel.
French minister Marlene Schiappa said his body was discovered at Sangatte beach on this morning.
It followed a huge overnight search and rescue effort.
French authorities say they were notified at 1.09am that a migrant suffering with hypothermia had been found on the beach.
He was taken to hospital where he told authorities he had been on a makeshift boat that had capsized and that his companion, who could not swim, might still have been in the water.
At 8.00am border police were informed that a body had been found.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said the death was “an upsetting and tragic loss of a young life”.
She had previously pledged to make the route “unviable” for migrants attempting to get to the UK.
“This horrendous incident serves as a brutal reminder of the abhorrent criminal gangs and people smugglers who exploit vulnerable people,” she said this morning.
“Working together, we are determined to stop them.”
Ms Shiappa also said the death highlighted the need to tackle the smugglers.
“Immense sadness: A 16-year-old Sudanese migrant who disappeared in the sea last night was found dead in the beach in Sangatte this morning,” she tweeted.
An investigation has been launched by the Boulogne-sur-Mer public prosecutor’s office, officials in France’s prefecture for the English Channel said.
Opposition MPs and charities have criticised the government’s handling of migrants attempting to cross the Channel in small boats and asylum claims.
Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said: “The government’s response to the situation in the Channel has been lacking in compassion and competence.
“Ministers urgently need to step up work with international partners to find a humanitarian solution to this crisis, which is costing lives.”
Steve Valdez-Symonds, a director at Amnesty International UK, said: “We are deeply saddened at the news that a young man has been found dead after it would seem drowning in an attempt to cross the Channel.”
He added that governments on both sides of the Channel must “share their asylum responsibilities”.
Bella Sankey, director of the Detention Action charity, said: “This is a horrifying but wholly expected death. We have repeatedly warned Priti Patel it was only a matter of time before her toxic policy to deny safe and legal routes to the UK would cost lives.
“This death lies firmly at her door. She should consider her position.”
Meanwhile, dozens of migrants, including children, arrived in Dover this morning.
More than 50 people were taken into the Kent port on board a lifeboat and a Border Force vessel.
Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are to be left with Border Force after Kent County Council reached capacity, it was announced earlier this week.
More than 4,700 migrants have reached the UK by small boat this year, analysis by the PA news agency shows.
