The Sudanese migrant who drowned in the English Channel had been sleeping rough for two months in a French refugee camp, according to reports.
The migrant, who has been named as Abdulfatah Hamdallah, had been living with a companion in Calais before they made the crossing, according to a French official.
The companion, who survived when their tiny dinghy capsized in the Channel, gave Mr Hamdallah's age as 16.
Philippe Sabatier, Boulogne-sur-Mer's deputy public prosecutor, said that a travel document belonging to Mr Hamdallah said he was 28.
He added that investigators did not yet understand how Mr Hamdallah had made his way to France from Sudan.
Mr Sabatier told the Independent: "I don’t know if he had applied for asylum with British authorities, but he appears to have done so with the French authorities."
Mr Hamdallah and his companion are said to have prepared for their Channel crossing attempt by stealing a small inflatable boat from a shop in the town of Sangatte, and took shovels from a nearby beach hut in place of oars.
One of the shovels punctured the boat, causing it to flip over, Mr Sabatier said, citing the survivor, who swam back to shore and alerted authorities.
Mr Hamdallah's body was found the next morning. UK Home Secretary Priti Patel blamed the incident on "criminal gangs" but Mr Sabatier said the two migrants appeared to be acting independently.
Mr Hamdallah's death has caused an outpouring of anguish on both sides of the Channel.
Local French MP Pierre-Henri Dumont asked: “How many more tragedies will it take for the British to regain an ounce of humanity?”
“The inability to apply for asylum in Britain without being physically present is causing these tragedies.”
Nick Thomas-Symonds, Labour's Shadow Home Secretary, said the Government lacked "compassion" in its response to the migrant crossings.
“Ministers urgently need to step up work with international partners to find a humanitarian solution to this crisis, which is costing lives," he added.
Maurice Wren, head of the Refugee Council, said the tragedy "should be a wake up call" for the government.
"Talking tough is putting lives at risk. It’s time for Britain and France to work together to ensure that no one else needlessly loses their life on these perilous journeys," he said.
"Safe and regular routes to the UK must be put in place immediately for people fleeing war and persecution.”
Migrant charity worker Bridget Chapman, of the Kent Refugee Action Network, said: “This death was completely avoidable. Along with many other migrant and refugee organisations, we have been calling for safe passage for some time now.
“Meanwhile the Government’s response has been both chaotic and callous, and utterly against the proud British tradition of offering refuge to those in need.
“The Government needs to step up to its humanitarian responsibility immediately and ensure safe and legal passage so that we avoid any more unnecessary deaths.
Ms Hudson-Wilkin, the Church of England's first black female bishop, said UK authorities needed to look at why people were making the treacherous crossing.
She told BBC Breakfast: 'We need to not just, every time there's a boat, throw our arms up and think 'panic, panic, let's do something about it, let's build walls, let's put the Border Force out. We need more long-term planning and thinking.
'We know the kind of hostility that those who are seeking a safe haven face, and actually politicians are often responding or playing to the gallery, so we as a community, we as British people, we must be very, very clear to all our politicians that we don't want the kind of knee-jerk reaction or language to pacify a particular group of people, we must be compassionate."
About 5,000 migrants are thought to have made the Channel crossing this year.