One mother, her four children and a five-year old daughter are believed to have drowned last week in the Channel tragedy.
According to some reports, the Kurdish family was among 27 people who drowned when their tiny dinghy capsized into freezing water on Wednesday.
Grande-Synthe Camp friend said that the family was hoping to reunite in the UK with their father. They were so thrilled by this prospect, they bought him a Teddy Bear.
They were originally from Darbandikhan, Iraqi Kurdistan.
Khazal Ahmad Khdir was 42 and was on a trip with her son Twana mamand Muhammad Hussein (19), Hadya Rizger (17), son Mobeen (15), and Hasty (5).
The couple left Iraq for Turkey a month earlier. According to camp friends, they traveled to France by boat from there.
Khazal Ahmad Khdir 42 (pictured far left), was on a trip with her son Twana Mamand Muhammad Hussein (pictured far right), 19, Hadya Rizger(pictured far right), 17, and 15-year old daughter Hasty.
Twana Mamand Muhammad Hussein (pictured), is one of the missing in fear dead from Channel’s tragedy
Facebook posted news that the family had gone missing, and it was feared they were dead. One relative claimed Khazal and her kids called from the boat after their phones stopped working.
“Even on the boat, there were calls,” the relative replied. “We were right there. We heard about the drowning that night.
“We haven’t heard anything from them since.” Spread the word, we need information.
Loon-Plage beach, near Dunkirk, was evacuated by the doomed dinghy carrying 30 persons.
Initial reports claimed that it was struck by an even larger vessel. However, now it’s believed the dinghy capsized after it started taking on water.
Friday’s news revealed that Maryam Nuri Muhammadamin, an aspiring Kurdish scholar was among those who died.
The 24-year-old, known as Baran, was hoping to be reunited with her fiancé in Bournemouth.
Yesterday, another Kurdish woman named Mahabad (23 years old), was reported to have been among the victims. Bryar Hamad Abulrahman (24) was also from Erbil.
Shukrya Bakr (44), Bryar’s mother told Kurdish media that Bryar had said to her over the phone, ‘I will resume the call with you on your other side. [the Channel]Inshallah [God willing].
“That was the last time that I talked to him.”
Bryar Abdulrahman 24, (pictured), was also thought to be one of the 27 English Channel victims who perished on Wednesday.
Former campmates in Dunkirk suggested three further names for victims, who had each paid around £3,000 for a place on the boat.
They were Rezhwan Yansin, Mohammed Kader, and Zanear Mustafa of Ranya in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Abdul Wahab (23-year-old Somalian migrant) is also believed to be dead.
Muse 22, his brother, said that he was so sorry. Our mother was in Somalia, so I told her. She cried and cried. It is not clear how she will deal with it.
The investigation is being led by detectives with the French Organised Crime Squad. They fear that the death toll will rise.
One of the two remaining survivors was an Iraqi Kurd called Mohammed Shekha at 21 years old. Omar is a Somalian and described scenes that saw’mass panic’ to police officers when the dinghy burst.