Forty people rescued at sea in Channel near Calais, France says

PARIS - Forty people have been rescued at sea in the Channel near Calais, the French channel coast prefecture said on Monday.

It said in a statement the group was saved in the night from Sunday to Monday and brought to Calais harbour, and again warned against people trying to cross the Channel illegally.

It did not say whether the people rescued were migrants and did not detail their nationalities. Last month, 27 migrants died when their small rubber dinghy deflated in the Channel while heading to Britain from France.