PARIS (AP) — French authorities announced the discovery Sunday of a body on a beach used as one of the launch points for migrants attempting the perilous sea crossing from northern France to the U.K on flimsy inflatable boats.

Attempted crossings and deaths have surged in recent days. The prefecture of northern France’s Pas-de-Calais region had previously reported that two women died Saturday before then, also saying that the body of a young man, “very likely” a migrant who had attempted the crossing overnight, was found Sunday morning on the long sandy beaches south of the port town of Boulogne-sur-Mer.

In less than 48 hours since Friday night, authorities counted 41 crossing attempts, some of them thwarted, along the Pas-de-Calais coastline that police patrol day and night, the prefect

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