A picture and its story: Fire-bombing of a seaside English migrant centre

A fire burns next to the Border Force centre after a firebomb attack in Dover, Britain, October 30, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

DOVER, England (Reuters) - "I heard this bang and I thought it was a bird scarer," Reuters photographer Peter Nicholls recalls, describing the moment a man fire-bombed the gates of a centre for processing migrants in the English port of Dover and then took his own life.

It was a dreary day in the south coast town and Nicholls was taking pictures to illustrate a story on tension between Britain and France over who should handle thousands of migrants who make the dangerous trip over the English Channel each year.