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Coastguards save migrant crossing Channel on makeshift raft Coastguards save migrant crossing Channel on makeshift raft
(35 minutes later)
French coastguards saved a 23-year-old Afghan man trying to cross the Channel on a makeshift raft on Monday using a bedsheet as a sail.French coastguards saved a 23-year-old Afghan man trying to cross the Channel on a makeshift raft on Monday using a bedsheet as a sail.
The youth, who had fashioned the raft with strips of wood and canvas, with a table leg serving as a mast, was rescued off Sangatte near Calais, an official said.The youth, who had fashioned the raft with strips of wood and canvas, with a table leg serving as a mast, was rescued off Sangatte near Calais, an official said.
The man, who had started developing hypothermia, "was first disappointed and then glad at being rescued," said Bernard Barron, the head of the coast rescue service in Calais.The man, who had started developing hypothermia, "was first disappointed and then glad at being rescued," said Bernard Barron, the head of the coast rescue service in Calais.
"It's very rare that rescuers intervene at sea to pick up migrants," he said, as human traffickers did not normally allow people to travel alone. "It's very rare that rescuers intervene at sea to pick up migrants," he said, as human traffickers do not normally allow people to travel alone.
Barron said it would have been impossible for him to cross to Britain because of the strong currents and winds.Barron said it would have been impossible for him to cross to Britain because of the strong currents and winds.
According to local officials, there are about 400 illegal immigrants at any time in northern France hoping to enter Britain illegally.According to local officials, there are about 400 illegal immigrants at any time in northern France hoping to enter Britain illegally.