Three children dead after pleasure boat capsizes in France

Two young children and one teen died when a pleasure boat capsized this week in France.

The victims — two girls ages 9 and 13, and a 7-year-old boy — were on the fishing-promenade speedboat traveling through the English Channel when it ran into trouble near Agon-Coutainville in Normandy, France around 3:30 p.m. Monday, The Sun reported.

Emergency responders brought the children, as well as three adults, back to the shore.

Each of the children suffered cardiac arrest and died on the scene, while the adults “were uninjured or slightly injured,” French outlet Le Figaro reported.

The relationship between the children, and where they were from, were not immediately clear.

Authorities told the outlet that rescuers found the boat upright, but all of the children were stuck in the cabin, which had submerged under the water.

Rescuers needed to use the ship’s anchor to break the Plexiglas window of the windshield.

The boat was about a half-mile away from Passous Beach in Agon-Coutainville when it attempted to turn and capsized, the local marine authority told the outlet.

“The boat, as well as all the passengers, were brought back to the beach of Passous where they were taken care, in a state of emergency, by the medical teams and the firemen,” the authority said in a statement.

In a statement, Elisabeth Borne, the French Minister of Ecological and Solidarity Transition, tweeted that “emotions are running high following the tragic capsize in the channel.”

“Our thoughts and prayers are the victims and their families,” Borne added. “Our gratitude goes to the efforts of #Sauveteursenmer [the rescue organization] and the emergency services on location.”

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