Dramatic footage shows RNLI lifeboat crew pulling family from stricken dinghy in the Channel

Dramatic footage shows a lifeboat crew rescuing five people from the English Channel.

The video shows the crew hauling the migrants, including a 14-year-old girl, aboard their boat and desperately trying to keep them conscious.

Among the five people pulled to safety are believed to be a family of four from Afghanistan.

On helmet-cam footage one member of the crew can be heard yelling to his shipmates, "guys this is serious, one person not breathing".

It then shows the crew pulling an exhausted person wearing a red lifejacket aboard their boat and carrying them across the deck.

Others rescued from the stricken dinghy can be seen lying on the ship as the crew work frantically to keep them awake.

Members of the crew can be heard shouting "hello" and urging the people to keep their eyes open.

After wrapping them in blankets they reassure the sobbing migrants that they are safe, aboard a lifeboat, and about to be taken back to shore.

One crew member encourages them to keep shivering so he can hear that they're still awake.

He can then be heard saying: "Just stay awake for me buddy, OK".

All those pulled from the sea struggle to retain consciousness.

Later it seems one has had to be given oxygen.

Fortunately, all those rescued by the crew on this occasion survived.

A Royal National Lifeboat Institution volunteer, who has responded similar callouts in the past, revealed he and his fellow crew members live in fear of finding "tens of bodies" floating in the sea and had even recently received training in how to deliver a baby at sea.

He said: "Dinghies are always packed the same way - women and children huddled on the thin plywood floor, men on the outside, seated on the inflated hull.

"It used to be that dinghies only had 20 people in them. Now, we often pick up vessels with two or three times that amount. The dinghy bottom is usually swilling with a mixture of seawater, petrol and vomit.

"Floating on top of this highly inflammable, rank cocktail - among the plastic bags and spoiled belongings - you might also see a foot pump and a pile of floppy bicycle inner tubes in case the boat sinks."

He added that their biggest concern when trying to pull a boat alongside is that the cheap, overloaded vessel will split and send its terrified passengers into the water.

The RNLI's Head of Lifeboats, Simon Ling, said: "We are accustomed to seeing spikes in activity around our coast throughout the summer months, partly as a result of new trends in water use but seeing year-round increases in launches and the potential impact these types of rescues have on our crew's emotional wellbeing is not something the RNLI has been faced with before.

"We recognise there is more work to be done in support of our crews and this work and everyone at the RNLI remains focused on our core purpose of saving lives at sea."