Calais (France) (AFP) – Three undocumented migrants, including a 10-year-old boy, died on Monday off the French coast while trying to cross the Channel to Britain, French authorities said.

France has long been a staging post for asylum seekers without visas hoping to cross the sea to Britain.

They pay smugglers thousands of dollars to board unstable and often overcrowded rubber dinghies to make the hazardous illegal journey across one of the world's busiest shipping routes.

The dinghy left the area of Sangatte in northern France at around 5:15 am (0315 GMT) carrying 105 people, local prefect Francois Xavier Lauch said.

Its passengers called rescue services at around 8:00 am when they were some six kilometres (nearly four miles) off the English coast, he added.

Two women in their thirties and a 10-year-old boy who were believed to be Eritrean died, seemingly in a crush as the dinghy was carrying too many people, he said.

The boy appeared to have been travelling with his mother and siblings.

Including the latest deaths, at least 22 people have died this year trying to cross the Channel, according to an AFP tally based on official French and British sources.

At least 29 lost their lives last year, according to the same tally.

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