Two migrant men have died while attempting to cross the English Channel irregularly on October 4, reported the French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP).

The two migrants were found off the coast of Berck, located about 50 kilometers south of Boulogne-sur-Mer, according to the local newspaper La Voix du Nord.

The individuals appeared to be in their 30s and 40s, the local prefecture said, without identifying them any further.

The Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor's office said it had launched an investigation to determine the exact circumstances surrounding the two deaths.

This development follows another three deaths last week around the Channel, where the bodies of two women were discovered in an overcrowded boat off the French coast, alongside the body of a 10-year-old child.

This latest tragedy brings the total tally of migrant deaths around the English Channel since the beginning of the year to at least 24, according to official numbers.

Two migrant women sent to hospital with burns

Two women meanwhile were admitted to hospital in the same region with "burns over a large portion of their bodies," according to La Voix du Nord. Later on Monday, AFP added that a girl was also hospitalized "with burns" alongside the two women.*

It is unclear at this point whether this development is linked to the two deaths.

According to reports, the burns were in line with those linked to the corrosive chemical reaction that occurs when petrol — presumably from the engine of a migrant boat — mixes with seawater.

Their nationalities are yet to be disclosed.

In a separate incident on Sunday (October 4), French police they had to rescue 11 migrants from a beach near Calais who were described as being "in distress" after their boat ran aground. This group were then airlifted for medical treatment to the city of Le Touquet.*

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Body discovered in van outside Paris

In an unrelated development elsewhere in France, AFP also reported that a man was found dead in a van with irregular migrants, which reportedly was parked at a rest stop in northern France about 30 kilometers southeast of the capital, Paris.

It is unclear at this point whether the person was a migrant or potentially a smuggler.

It was, however, evident that the man had been shot in the head, and that this was his cause of his death, French authorities said on October 3.

Furthermore, officials told AFP that a suspect "believed to have been present at the crime scene" was arrested.

It is thought that the vehicle was intending to make its way to the English Channel, though this, too, is yet to be confirmed.

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Murder case linked to irregular migration

In addition to the discovery of the body, police said they had also found "around 10 foreign nationals [on the scene], who were irregularly on French territory."

The nationalities of those migrants have not been disclosed at this point.

Several other individuals meanwhile were reported to have fled the lay-by right at the time of the discovery of the murdered migrant, the prosecutor said in a statement. 

However, it is not clear whether they, too, were migrants.

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Multiple criminal charges

The van in which the body was discovered reportedly had UK license plates, according to prosecutor Isabelle Verissimo.

Verissimo said that charges will be brought in the case including "murder, attempted murder, unauthorized possession of a weapon, aiding irregular entry, the movement and the residence of a foreigner in France as part of an organized group, and human trafficking as part of an organized group."

With AFP

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*This article had to be reposted on Tuesday, October 6, because a technical error meant it got overwritten. At the same time, we updated the article with the latest news about the Channel incidents.