A husband of an Iraqi wife feared he would be one of 27 people killed by the English Channel.
Maryam Nuri is a Ranya woman from the northern part of the country. She was one of many victims of the capsized, fragile boat that sank off Calais’ coast on Wednesday in harsh weather and freezing temperatures.
After lifeboatmen pulled 17 bodies, 7 women, and 3 children out of the water, her husband (who did not wish to be identified) was anxiously awaiting news about their loved ones.
An immigrant Kurdish living in Britain, he described to The Telegraph his efforts to follow the journey of his wife from France to Britain. Her signal dropped suddenly.
She is now gone. It was extremely sad for me and all of us,’ he stated.
‘I maintained constant communication with my wife. I also tracked her GPS live. She was in that boat for four hours and 18 mins, when I thought she left. Then, they got lost at sea.
French police take on a stretcher an unidentified corpse found off Sangatte Beach, the day following the deaths of 27 migrants
On the Slack dunes, you can see a damaged inflatable dinghy and outboard motors. Life jackets and sleeping bags that were left by migrants have been found on the shore.
It comes as it emerged last night that another migrant feared drowned in the Channel tragedy phoned a friend to say: ‘It’s not good, the engine isn’t powerful enough – I don’t know if we’re going to make it.’
Mohammad Aziz (31), has been missing since his panicked call to Peshraw Aziz from an Iraqi Kurd.
From Calais, he told The Daily Mail that last night he panicked about whether the boat would sink.
Other migrants shared their fears for the safety of four Afghan teenagers who were also missing following Wednesday’s tragedy that claimed 27 lives.
Riaz Mohammed (12 years old), Share Mohammed (17 years old), and Shinai (15 and Shinai (16) were some of those who attempted the dangerous crossing.
Friends that were not able to reach them yesterday expressed concern about their loved ones’ fate.
A friend shared a TikTok video of Riaz & Share from Jalalabad wearing life jackets at the beach on Monday as they prepare for an earlier attempt to sail to England.
One of the victims was a pregnant woman. Officials stated that the deceased included seven men and two women.
Yesterday, a volunteer from a lifeboat pulled six bodies off the sea floor.
Charles Devos was among the first to arrive and said that it was somewhat like Titanic, when all the people were thrown into the sea, without any way to rescue them.
“Unfortunately we could not recover the bodies.”
Riaz Mohammed (12 years old) and Share Mohammed (17 years old), are pictured in life jackets at the beach before the crossing that resulted into 27 deaths.
He said, “I noticed that the balloon boat was really flattened.” Did it strike an object or a valve? Overloading is what I believe caused it.
‘Don’t forget, you think the sea is calm – the sea isn’t calm because it’s nearly always choppy.’
Devos stated that he passed right next to an inflatable vessel which was totally deflated. It was kept afloat by what little air was left.
“I do not know if there was a child, but I think we did pick up.” [the body of]A pregnant woman with a young male companion who was 18-20 years old.
After the French coastguard spotted the empty dinghy seven miles offshore of Calais, the Coast Guard released an harrowing recording.
A shocking photograph of the flimsy inflatable craft – described as barely more seaworthy than a child’s paddling pool – was taken by rescuers.
The only two survivors of the horror – an Iraqi and a Somalian – have reportedly told French police the dinghy was hit by a container ship that punctured its thin rubber hull and sank the vessel.
Last night, they were in intensive care at the hospital for hypothermia.
Yesterday night, Mohammad told Mr Aziz that he had just spoken to him in the hour prior to the sinking.
Both were from Ranya in northern Iraq. They had been waiting to cross the Channel when they met up at a camp close Dunkirk. Both were from Ranya, a northern Iraqi town.
30-year-old Mr Aziz stated that Muhammad decided to go for it. He phoned me panicking and said that he was unsure if his decision had been right.
He said to me, “It’s not good”, that the engine was too weak and that he worried about the boat sinking. He was gone the next time I spoke to him.
Afghans are still waiting for the Channel to be opened. Currently, two of their countrymen were feared to drown – Shinai (R), and Palowan (16L).
The French authorities did not release the names of victims, and it is unknown if Mohammad Aziz was among them.
Yesterday, officials briefed that the boat carried Kurds from north Iraq as well as migrants from Afghanistan or Iran. They had lived in camps, slept at Calais railway station and – the night before the crossing attempt – had hidden themselves near a canal.
Other Afghans shared their worries about their lost friends at a grim, trash-strewn camp close to Dunkirk. Referring to Riaz and Share Mohammed, one said: ‘They tried to get across three days ago, then they tried again yesterday (Wednesday) – and we haven’t heard from them since.’
The children were part of a large party that included up to 100 kids and set off on three inflatables. There was no confirmation that their friends were among the victims.
‘It’s not good, the engine isn’t powerful enough – I don’t know if we’re going to make it,’ said Mohammad Aziz, 31, on a frantic call to a fellow Iraqi Kurd, Peshraw Aziz as he attempted to cross the channel on a flimsy dinghy which sank, killing dozens.
Hassan (a 30-year-old Afghan migrant) is trying to get asylum back in Britain. He was rejected as asylum by the British in July 2012, but he has since tried to return. He explained that his two friends, Shinai (Palowan) were also in the boat. I received two messages from them yesterday, one each morning and night.
He said that Afghans refer to illegal crossings of borders as “The Game” and added: “Shinai kept calling, saying, Come on The Game. I did not go.
‘I haven’t heard any more – and I think they’ve died. However, I will keep going. The pair had attempted to cross the border many times. England is close.
According to sources, the Mail was told by Mail that a woman doctor became emotional when she saw the bodies in the QuaiPaul depot in Calais.
None of the victims were said to be carrying passports or other documents – a tactic often used as it makes it harder to return migrants to their countries of origin.
Anna Richel from Utopia 56 in France, which is closely involved with migrants in Dunkirk, Calais and elsewhere, stated that ‘the migrants never cross Channel with ID cards so there could be weeks for official identification of those who have died.