CALAIS, France - A boat carrying dozens of migrant workers capsized Wednesday in the English channel, killing at least 27 people.

According to CNN, the vessel used to smuggle the migrant workers overturned off the coast of Calais, northern France and as of Wednesday morning around 11 a.m. (CST) a search-and-rescue operation for survivors was still ongoing in the Strait of Pas-de-Calais.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex referred to the incident as a "tragedy," and said, "My thoughts are with the many missing and injured, victims of criminal smugglers who exploit their distress and misery."

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, likewise, expressed "strong emotions facing the tragedy of the deaths of many migrants after a boat capsized in the English Channel," and sources said he was headed to the area Wednesday.