A boat carrying over 170 migrants has been rescued by French and British authorities after catching fire while crossing the English Channel.

British and French authorities rescued the migrants near the French port of Boulogne-sur-Mer on Tuesday morning local time. There were no casualties and 11 minor injuries reported.

French authorities said five people were already rescued overnight, but the remaining passengers refused assistance, instead opting to stay on the boat in the hopes of making it to England. According to the BBC, French authorities said they decided not to intervene prior to the fire, due to the boat’s “structural fragility”. However, after it’s engine caught fire, England and France sent rescue boats to assist the migrants, taking them to Boulogne-sur-Mer for treatment.

A spokesperson for the British Government highlighted the incident as an example of the dangers faced in crossing the channel.

“This incident underlines the terrible dangers of small boat crossings. We continue to work relentlessly with the French and our partners overseas to prevent these perilous journeys,” they said.

So far, at least 14 people have died crossing the channel this year. Last week four people died crossing the Channel from Dunkirk .

This comes as Europe continues to face migration incidents. An estimated 72 thousand migrants crossed into the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta from Morocco, last Thursday in a mass border rush, 70 thousand of which have now been returned to Morocco.

Photo: By Ayberk Mirza is available HERE and is used under a Creative Commons License. The image has not been modified.