Clinging on with their last remaining bits of strength, asylum seekers begged for help after their death-trap dinghy broke apart in the Channel.
RNLI rescue teams have, for the first time, detailed how 19 people were saved during a fatal crossing in which six people died.
As the lifeboat arrived, already carrying 68 migrants from another disaster in the Channel, men plunged into the water desperately swam towards the vessel as others climbed onto the wreckage of the small boat.
Reaching the lifeboat’s ‘scramble net’, the exhausted asylum seekers had to be lifted out of the water as they screamed “help me, please”.
One member of the rescue team, Paula Lain, told how one of the men she rescued “had no strength to hold me”, adding “I just knew that if I let him go, he wouldn’t be there”.
Ms Lain said: “We were looking at people in the water, some of them disappearing under the water and it was at that moment we all took stock.
“Our training kicked in and we leapt to it. We were pulling people out as fast as we possibly could.
“There was this man who was holding onto the edge of the boat. He had no strength left. I leant over; I laid on my front and I grabbed his arms – he had no strength to hold me. I looked into his eyes, his face was grey, his eyes were wide, he was so scared.
“I just knew that if I let him go, he wouldn’t be there. There was absolutely no way I was going to let him go. I held onto him and I called for help with my colleagues and together we pulled him to safety.”
One migrant had to be lifted onto the lifeboat by two rescue volunteers after he was “unable” to “kick” and haul himself onto the vessel.
Another clip, recorded from helmet cameras worn by the lifeboat teams, showed a topless man sitting on top of the shipwrecked inflatable dinghy, as others were treading water around him.
The heartbreaking videos showed how rescue teams threw “horseshoes” – mini lifejackets – into the Channel. But as they hit the water, the terrified migrants began swimming towards the lifeboat.
Some struggled to reach the outstretched hands of those trying to lift them to safety. Everyone rescued by the RNLI in this incident in August 2023 survived – but six people pulled from the water by other vessels who responded to the emergency lost their lives.
Some of the migrants were still wearing the flimsy, unseaworthy, lifejackets given to them by people smugglers in France. Another video, from a rescue mission in 2022, showed lifeboat volunteers scrambling to rescue migrants from the water.
One screamed “we’re going to die” before clinging onto a rope thrown to him. The clip shows a migrant struggling to lift his legs into the rescue RIB, as the lifeboat hero shouted “I’ve got you, listen, I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
Another was told, “keep your head above the water”, as two people held the man’s arms while his legs remained in the Channel. The RNLI rescued 1,371 people during 114 operations in 2024, the charity said.
Walmer RNLI helm Dan Sinclair, who has rescued scores of people from the Channel, said: “One thing that I would like people to understand and to realise is that when we are tasked to a small boat somewhere in the Channel, these people genuinely need our help. They are in distress.
“They’re in unseaworthy boats offshore, taking on water in all states and conditions. They could be frozen, their legs could be paralysed, they can’t talk, they’ve been in that position for ages, they could be crushed, families separated.
“We’re doing what we can to try and help save every single person, to keep families united and to keep people alive.
“One rescue that will stay with me forever was a small boat taking on water. It had a family on board, men, women and children but there was a particular family on there who were so scared.
“They were screaming, they were really upset, they didn’t know what was happening next. The boat was overcrowded, it was unseaworthy, and it was sinking in front of their eyes, a position which I hope I’m never in myself. A horrible, horrible, horrible situation. We managed to rescue that family and we saved them, we stopped them from drowning.
“There was a little girl on that boat, she looked at me straight in the eye and said: “I love you, thank you”. As a father that was straight through my heart. When I got home, I knew I had to go speak to my daughter and give her a big cuddle and a big kiss.”
More than 24,000 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year – an increase of around 50% compared to this time last year.
It comes after a migrant lost his life while attempting to make the treacherous crossing on Saturday. He is understood to have suffered a cardiac arrest. There have been an estimated 13 deaths this year – with the true figure potentially being higher, charities warn.
In July alone, 4,099 people made it to the UK in 60 boats.