A man has been arrested on suspicion of endangering life after four people died in a small boat Channel crossing on Thursday.

The man, described by prosecutors as a 27-year-old Sudanese national, was arrested by National Crime Agency investigators on Friday.

The four victims, two men and two women, died when they tried to board a dinghy. They were swept away by strong currents, according to François-Xavier Lauch, the prefect of Pas-de-Calais. The dinghy was described as a taxi-boat, which travels along stretches of the northern French and Belgian coasts, picking up people along the shore.

Human rights organisations working at the Anglo-French border said more dangerous taxi-boats were being increasingly deployed by smugglers to evade police enforcement on French beaches. People now have to wade out to sea to board these dinghies.

Humans For Rights Network and Project Play condemned the UK and French policies that have led to an increased deployment of taxi-boats. The two NGOs said: “Such embarcations are a direct result of policies pursued by the UK and France which have seen an intensification in the violent interception of people and boats on the beaches of northern France by police officers paid for by the UK.”

The suspect was arrested at Manston processing centre in Kent on suspicion of “endangering another during a journey by sea to the UK” under the new Border, Security, Asylum and Immigration Act. He remains in police custody to be interviewed by National Crime Agency officers.

An investigation led by French prosecutor into the circumstances of the launch and the four fatalities is continuing. Craig Turner, the NCA’s deputy director, said: “Working with colleagues at home and abroad, we are determined to do all we can to identify and bring to justice those responsible for these four tragic deaths.”

Mike Tapp, the minister for migration and citizenship, said: “Every death in the Channel is a tragedy. Our experienced law enforcement teams will continue working relentlessly with international partners to prevent these perilous journeys and bring those responsible to justice.

“Through our Border Security Act, officers now have stronger powers to act earlier and disrupt, intercept and take down the operations of criminal smuggling gangs who bring illegal migrants to our shores.”

In a previous case under the same new laws a child has been charged with endangering others during a small boat Channel crossing to the UK, The boy, who cannot be identified, is in the care of a local authority after arriving in the UK earlier this year and was assessed to be under 18.