French coastguards rescued 157 people from a boat carrying migrants that caught fire in the English Channel on Tuesday near the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, the local administration said in a statement. Three coastguard ships rescued those on board, the local French administration which handles the English Channel and North Sea areas said. Last week three people died while trying to cross the Channel on a small boat. Tuesday’s rescue highlights the growing dangers of Channel crossings as human traffickers cram ever larger numbers of migrants onto flimsy boats. Human traffickers typically overload their dinghies, leaving them barely afloat.