Four people have died after a migrant boat got into difficulties crossing the English Channel on a freezing night.
A fishing crew spotted the dinghy sinking in ice-cold waters between Kent and France just after 3 am.
A government spokesman said authorities were alerted at 3.05 am to a small boat in difficulty off the coast of Dungeness, 30 miles west of Dover.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak earlier expressed his sorrow at the “tragic loss of human life”.
The boat is likely to have been carrying migrants risking the crossing from France, a day after Mr Sunak announced new measures to “stop the boats”.
In a statement to the House of Commons, Ms Braverman said the search and rescue operation was ongoing, and she has spoken to Border Force officials about the tragedy.
The UK coastguard, the French Navy, the RNLI and an air ambulance were all sent to help with the rescue operation.
A fishing boat in the area and coastguard helicopters from Lydd and Lee on Solent were also involved.
South East Coast Ambulance Service said it was called following reports of the incident, and sent crews to Dover, in Kent, to help with the follow-up operation.
Overnight on Tuesday, temperatures dropped to 1C, with it likely to have been colder out at sea. A yellow weather warning for ice was in place across Kent at the time.