The British newspaper "The Guardian" revealed on Thursday that most of those who drowned while trying to cross the English Channel between France and Britain yesterday were Kurds from Iraq and Iran, including pregnant women and three children. The report stated that one survivor of the tragic incident holds Iraqi nationality, while another is from Somalia, and both are currently being treated in a hospital in Calais for exhaustion and hypothermia.
The public prosecutor in Lille, France, has opened a criminal investigation into the incident, coinciding with the arrest of four men suspected of "direct involvement" in the crossing attempt and the detention of a fifth man early Thursday morning. The prosecutor's office in Lille confirmed that 17 men, seven women, and three teenagers—two boys and a girl—had died in the disaster.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told RTL radio that the fifth suspect was driving a car with a German license plate and "purchased inflatable boats in Germany." He added that the full responsibility for the incident lies with the traffickers, describing them as "mafia-like organizations operating in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Britain."
French media reported that the inflatable boat carrying 29 people launched from the area of Loon-Plage near the port of Dunkirk in northern France. They noted that the winds were light and the sea calm at the time of the incident, but suspected that the boat may have collided with a container ship in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
The first reports arrived at around 2 PM local time via a French fishing boat that spotted bodies floating in the waters off the coast of Calais, according to the newspaper. French maritime rescue services arrived at the scene shortly afterward.
The toll from this disaster is the most severe since the Channel became a focal point for migrants from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia attempting to cross the English Channel from France to England on ill-equipped small boats. French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged that the Channel will not turn into a "graveyard," and he held discussions with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to enhance efforts to combat migrant smuggling.
According to data collected by the British news agency PA, over 25,700 people embarked on crossing attempts across the Channel in small boats this year, three times the number recorded in 2020.
