BOULOGNE-SUR-MER, France: Migrants wrapped in red blankets stepped off a rescue ship in France on Tuesday, an AFP reporter said, after French and British authorities saved 173 people whose boat caught fire as they tried to cross the Channel. French maritime authorities later Tuesday revised the number of people rescued to 173 from an earlier figure of 157. They had left the coastal village of Veules-les-Roses in Normandy on Monday, French maritime authorities said. France has long been a launchpad for migrants without visas hoping to cross the Channel to start a better life in Britain. So far this year, 14,526 people have landed on British shores after such journeys, according to British authorities.