French maritime authorities said they picked up 16 migrants, including one child, in the English Channel in the early hours of Saturday. The Britain-bound group was rescued some six kilometres 3.8 miles) off the French port of Calais after their makeshift vessel ran into difficulties around 3:30 am (0130 GMT) and called for help, they said. A maritime surveillance vessel rescued the migrants around 5:00 am and took them to the Channel port of Dunkirk where they were handed over to border police. cor-jpa/frd/cdw/bmm