The National Crime Agency (NCA) has said it is supporting the French investigation into the deaths.

The men arrested were two Sudanese nationals aged 22 and 19 and one South Sudanese national aged 19, Craig Turner, the deputy director of the NCA, said.

It comes as a seven-year-old girl, a woman and three men died during the attempt to cross the English Channel on 23 April.

Sky News was told on Tuesday that about 50 people who had paid for a place on board the boat helped carry it down the beach in Wimereux, northern France, before getting to the waterfront.

It was at this point that another group of people emerged and pushed their way on to the boat, threatening those on board.

It meant 112 people were on the boat that was meant to safely accommodate 20 people.

The investigation comes on the same day as the bodies of 19 people were recovered off the coast of Tunisia, near one of the primary points of departure for those seeking to traverse the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

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