Seven Afghans and two Iraqi Kurds have each been sentenced to seven or eight years in jail over the deadly capsizing of a boat carrying migrants from France to England in 2022.
A French court heard the small, inflatable boat left France in freezing conditions early on December 14 of that year, carrying people from Afghanistan, Albania, India and Senegal.
Four died and another four were reported missing at the time after the vessel capsized a few kilometres from the English coast with only one of the bodies identified – an Afghan man. Rescuers saved 39 people, while those missing were presumed dead.
An investigation by the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch found the boat was “wholly unsuitable and ill-equipped” for the hazardous journey. The water temperature was 11°C and the air temperature minus 4°C, too cold for a surveillance aircraft that would usually patrol the channel to fly. Cold-water shock can occur in anything below 15°C and can lead to swift loss of life.
The UK government has vowed to crack down on people smuggling gangs operating in the Channel, with crossings at a record high for this point in the year, totalling 18,518.
A court in the French city of Lille sentenced three men to eight years in jail on Monday. They included an Afghan being tried in absentia and thought to be the mastermind of the trafficking operation.
It handed the rest seven-year sentences, including two Afghan brothers accused of financing the scheme.
A 10th man who is being held in Belgium will face trial at a later date.
A British court had already sentenced a Senegalese minor who drove the boat to nine years in jail, French prosecutors said.
The investigation found several people had heard a loud bang that sounded like the boat had been punctured shortly before departure.
The smugglers told the passengers not to worry and that the boat was the only one available for the crossing.
But the sea was rough and there were not enough life jackets – all those who died were not wearing one, survivors said.
After about an hour the boat was filling up with water and when panicking passengers stood up to get the attention of a passing ship, the hull of the capsizing boat burst under the weight of the water. All the passengers fell into the cold sea.
The accident was one of the deadliest in the Channel in recent years. In November 2021 in another deadly incident, 27 people were killed off the French coast in a case that has yet to reach court.
At least 17 people have died attempting the perilous Channel crossing from France to Britain this year, after a record 78 last year.
The French and British governments have been holding talks over how to tackle the small boats crisis but have yet to reach a solution. France is due to start intercepting boats up to 300 metres from the coast and the two countries are said to be nearing agreement on sending asylum seekers back to France under certain conditions.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
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- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
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