Three men and a woman also died in the incident off the northern French coast at Wimereux on an overcrowded small boat which a French state official said was carrying 112 people.

The French coastguard said there was a failed attempt to cross the Channel and there were several "lifeless bodies".

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Four people were taken to hospital, but none is in a life-threatening condition, the official said.

The accident occurred while the vessel was sailing off, the official said, adding that while 47 people were rescued, more than 50 others chose to continue on their journey.

It comes hours after the UK government's controversial Rwanda bill - intended to deter migrants from crossing the Channel in small boats - was passed.

Earlier, French newspaper La Voix Du Nord, said around a hundred migrants were rescued by a French navy tugboat and taken to Boulogne. This has not been confirmed by authorities.

Charity worker Sandrine, who witnessed the incident, told Sky News she saw two dinghies in difficulty.

She said a girl was among those who died.

"I saw them bringing in the bodies and the father fell into my arms," she said.

"I said to myself: 'This can't be possible. He has a child'.

"They tried to resuscitate her but she had died. The helicopters arrived and then there were four other bodies.

"The father saw his daughter die before him."

Earlier, she said she saw a large group of people at the station, and "knew there would be an attempted crossing".

Writing on X, UK Home Secretary James Cleverly said: "These tragedies have to stop. I will not accept a status quo which costs so many lives."

He said ministers are "doing everything we can to end this trade".

Conservative MP, Robert Jenrick, who resigned as immigration minister over the government's Rwanda plan in December, urged the EU to grant member states legal cover "to seize these unseaworthy boats" after what he called "another intolerable tragedy".

Earlier, Sky News filmed a suspected migrant boat attempting to cross the Channel but it is not known if that was the one involved in the deadly incident.

Pictures have been published showing people, believed to be migrants, arriving on a British Border Force vessel at Port of Dover.

Sky's Europe correspondent Adam Parsons, reporting from the northern French coast, said at least four vessels were involved in the rescue operation off the coast of Wimereux, as well as helicopters.

Sea conditions were "perfect", he said [and], "if you were trying to cross the Channel in a small boat, this is the day you would do it, so if you can't make it on a day like this, it shows how dangerous it is."

The boat, he said, is believed to have hit a sandbar at around 5am, causing people to enter the water.

The Channel is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and currents are strong, making the crossing on small boats extremely hazardous.

People smugglers typically overload rickety dinghies, leaving them barely afloat and at risk of being lashed by the waves as they try to reach Britain.

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The Rwanda bill, which Rishi Sunak says will curb the illegal trade, will finally become law after the House of Lords decided they would no longer oppose it following hours of wrangling. The measure was finally approved just after midnight.

Mr Sunak has pledged the first flights will take off "in 10 to 12 weeks".

Human rights groups have described the legislation as inhumane and cruel.