French authorities have officially identified the individuals who drowned in the English Channel last month, including two children and several women, most of whom were migrants from the Middle East. The Guardian reported that French authorities revealed the identities of 26 out of 27 individuals who drowned in the boat incident in the Channel, with most of them being Iraqi Kurds. The Paris prosecutor indicated that 16 of the victims were Iraqi Kurds, while four were Afghan, three Ethiopian, one Somali woman, and two men—one Egyptian and the other Iranian.
Among the deceased were 17 men aged between 19 and 26 years, seven women aged between 22 and 46 years, a 16-year-old teenager, and a seven-year-old child. The newspaper noted that authorities often face challenges in identifying deceased asylum seekers as they do not carry official documents during their attempts to cross. The British newspaper added that French investigators are still working to gain a clearer understanding of what transpired during the tragedy, noting that they are looking into reports that passengers had contacted French and British emergency services for help as their boat began to sink.
According to the investigation, the migrants departed "at the end of the night" from Loon Plage near Grand Synthe, where many migrants camp along the northern French coast. It added that the migrants used a medium-grade inflatable rubber boat meant for a single crossing, with a flexible floor. According to a Kurdish survivor, who the French maritime authority confirmed is indeed a survivor, an older Egyptian migrant was in charge of the boat. The boat carried at least 19 men, seven women, two young men, and a child, most of whom were wearing orange life jackets. The Kurdish survivor stated that the traffickers counted 33 passengers, according to AFP. The boat was in the middle of the "Channel" when water began to seep in, and then it started to collapse, according to the Kurdish survivor's account.
Passengers attempted to inflate it with an air pump, while others tried to bail out water and sought assistance from British and French authorities via phone. An Iraqi survivor named Mohammed Ibrahim Zada (21 years old) confirmed that "the British police did not help us, and the French police said you are in British waters, we cannot come," as reported by Rudaw Arabic. However, the French maritime authority stated that if contacted, it cannot refrain from intervening. This incident marks the deadliest tragedy since migrants began attempting to cross the "Channel" to England via France.
