At least five people killed in shootings in and around French migrant camp

Saturday, 14 December 2024 21:36

At least five people have been killed in a shooting in and around a migrant camp near Dunkirk.

A 22-year-old man claiming to be the gunman handed himself to the nearby Ghyvelde police station at 5pm local time.

He told police he first killed a 29-year-old in the French town of Wormhout at about 3pm.

He then killed four others at the Loon-Plage refugee camp, he told police.

The four victims at the camp are understood to be two "security agents" and two migrants.

Sky News spoke with a witness who said the attacker pulled up in green vehicle, jumped out and fired around a dozen shots.

The gunman is thought to be a French national from Dunkirk and was carrying three more guns in his car, according to local media.

Sky News understands the migrants who died are Kurdish and had tried to cross the Channel earlier on Saturday but their boat got into trouble.

They were in the Channel for eight hours before being rescued by French authorities.

85 people were on that boat and 50 were taken off after it first got into trouble.

According to the refugee charity Care4Calais, refugees have been camping in the area for years, which is about six miles from the English Channel.

They are mainly "Kurdish or Afghan and include many families with small children", according to the charity.

It was not immediately clear what the motives were for the shooting.

Sky News

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