EIGHT migrants died while trying to cross the English Channel and six are in hospital, including a 10-month-old baby.
The asylum seekers drowned off the coast between the French ports of Calais and Boulougne overnight – hours after Mafia-style crackdown plans were revealed by Labour.
The French emergency services received a Mayday from a dinghy that got into difficulty in the early hours of this morning.
Jacques Billant, the Calais prefect, said "several migrants lost their lives" in the tragedy – putting the death toll at eight.
The migrants' rigid inflatable boat "clearly tore apart on the rocks," he said, adding that eight unidentified migrants were declared dead at the scene.
Mr Billant said: "It set off with 59 people on board, and immediately got into difficulty."
It is thought that all those who died were male, and those on board were a mixture of Eritreans, Sudanese, Syrians, Afghans, Egyptians and Iranians.
Of the 51 survivors, six were rushed to intensive care units in nearby hospitals, including a 10-month-old baby with hypothermia.
An immediate search-and-rescue operation did not find any other victims.
Gueric Le Bras, the public prosecutor in Boulogne-sur-Mer, confirmed that a criminal enquiry into the disaster was already underway.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy told the BBC: "It's awful. It's a further loss of life."
Rescue chiefs said "at least 18 attempts" to reach Britain were made by different boats yesterday.
Calm weather brought out the boats, all of them thought to have been organised by human traffickers.
The smugglers allegedly charge around £1000-a-head for a passage to Britain.
French cops have launched a probe into the latest sinking – vowing to track down the smugglers responsible.
It comes just two weeks after 12 people including six children and a pregnant woman died when another small boat sank in the Channel.
Yesterday it was revealed Sir Keir Starmer will use Italy’s success in cracking down on the Mafia as a blueprint to take on people-smugglers.
The PM will fly to Rome today and hold crunch talks on the small boats crisis with Italian leader Giorgia Meloni.
He will use the summit to announce he has appointed a boss to lead his new UK Border Security Command.
A Labour source said: "Our Border Security Command will pursue illicit finance, dismantle supply chain networks and take down the crime bosses making millions out of small boat crossings.
"We know Italy has had great success tackling organised crime gangs, including the Mafia.
"And we want to learn from the work they have done at home and abroad, so we can take down the awful criminal smuggling mob blighting our waters."
Speaking about the summit on his trip to the US, Starmer said: “I’ve already had a preliminary discussion with Giorgia Meloni about how we can work together on irregular migration.
"She has of course got some strong ideas and I hope to discuss those with her.
“She and I have already discussed how we can improve joint operations, so that is something we will discuss.”
Responding to the latest deaths, Amnesty International said: "This is yet another appalling and avoidable tragedy."
Amnesty's Steve Valdez-Symonds added: "Our hearts go out to the families and friends of those who’ve died.
"These perilous crossings are seemingly becoming more and more dangerous.
"It suggests smugglers are taking greater chances with people’s lives as they try to evade detection efforts by the UK and French authorities.
"The Government’s ‘smash the gangs’ slogan and its security-heavy approach is contributing to the death toll.
"The refusal to establish safe asylum routes means these flimsy vessels controlled by people smugglers are the only real option for desperate people fleeing persecution.
"Until UK ministers and their counterparts in France start sharing responsibility over the need for safe routes.
"We should expect this weekend’s tragedy to keep repeating itself time and time again."
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