Lille, France  -  A migrant died while trying to cross the English Channel to Britain from France on Friday when the overcrowded vessel he was travelling in sank, French maritime police said. This was the third such journey ending in death within a week, it said, adding that 85 people were rescued after the authorities responded to their distress call. A police source said the migrant who died was of Sudanese origin. The others rescued from the vessels were mostly Ethiopian, Eritrean or Sudanese. Shortly before 1:00 am (2300 GMT Thursday) the migrants asked a French navy patrol for assistance as their vessel began to sink, police said. The patrol rescued five people drifting in the water, and transferred the others over from the vessel. That was when the crew discovered that one man had died.