A seven-year-old girl has been killed in the British Channel after migrants attempted to sail from France to the UK, authorities have said.

France’s Nord department confirmed a small boat carrying as many as 16 migrants capsized in the Channel while heading from northern France to Britain.

The local authority said the boat was “not appropriately sized to carry so many people”.

They added in a statement that the boat capsized soon after people boarded in the Aa canal just east of Calais.

Girl, 7, killed during Channel crossing attempt