Emergency services made the discovery in the early hours of Sunday on a beach near Neufchâtel-Hardelot, south of Boulogne-sur-Mer. The victims, aged 16 and 29, were found inside an overcrowded inflatable vessel that had run aground.
Authorities said the boat had been carrying around 82 people when its engine caught fire and exploded at around 3am, triggering panic on board.
Christophe Marx, of the Pas de Calais prefecture, said: “They were in a small boat carrying approximately eighty-two people. The boat ran aground on the beach, and the victims were found dead inside the boat.”
Survivors described how the blaze forced passengers to scramble for safety. One Iranian survivor said: “There was a problem with the engine, which caught fire. This forced everybody backwards, into a huddle.”
Local mayor Paulette Juilien Peuvion confirmed the ages of the victims and said others had been seriously injured. She said: “One of the victims was only sixteen year old, the second was not yet thirty.
“A man on the boat had suffered severe burns and was transported to the hospital in an emergency vehicle, while five others were also in a critical condition.”
Prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation and there has been no immediate identification of those involved.
In a separate incident, 17 migrants were rescued by a French naval vessel and brought safely ashore.
The tragedy follows a series of recent deaths along the northern French coast.
Four people died last month near Équihen-Plage while trying to reach a boat offshore, with two more fatalities reported days earlier.
The number of crossings has risen as weather conditions improve, despite new measures announced by the UK government led by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood aimed at cracking down on people smuggling.
Officials say the Channel remains one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world, with overcrowded boats and hazardous conditions continuing to put lives at risk.
