One person is dead and three others are injured after being hit by a train while walking along tracks near Calais, northern France.

The accident happened on Thursday evening at around 6.20pm on the train tracks between Dunkirk and Calais.

Franck Dhersin, vice president of the Hauts-de-France region, said on Twitter that the victims were from Eritrea, adding that two had minor injuries and one was in a state of “absolute emergency”.

This comes days after another person was found dead on a beach of Wissant, near Calais, on Thursday morning after attempting to cross the English Channel to reach the UK.

Two others were also found on Thursday and another has been reported as missing. Another also died on Wednesday after attempting the dangerous crossing.

French authorities said over 400 people were rescued during an operation in the Calais area on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday, UK authorities also rescued or intercepted 456 arriving from France in small boats.

According to PA news agency, at least 19,756 people had already reached the UK this year, bringing the total to more than 20,200.

This is more than double the total for the whole of 2020.

Steve Valdez-Symons, refugee and migrants right director for Amnesty UK, said: “How many people must lose their lives before governments on both sides of Channel take joint responsibility for ensuring safe access to asylum procedures in both countries?

“It is tragic, heart rending and shameful to reflect that there is seemingly no limit.”