A 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), Share Mohammed (17 year old), and Shinai (15, and Palowan (16 and 16 respectively) were all among the people who tried to cross that dangerous river.
Friends that were not able to reach them yesterday expressed concern about their loved ones’ fate.
One of my friends showed me a TikTok clip that Riaz (from Jalalabad) had filmed Monday. Share was wearing life jackets while they were preparing for their earlier voyage to England.
One of the victims was a pregnant woman. Officials stated that the deceased included seven men and two women.
A volunteer lifeboat crew member who pulled six bodies out of the water on Wednesday compared the scene to a movie about disasters.
Charles Devos who arrived first, stated that “it was almost like Titanic” when everyone was plunged in the ocean, and drowned, but there was no way of getting out.
“Unfortunately we could not recover the bodies of those who died.”
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.
French police stretcher unidentified victim found off Sangatte beaches. The incident occurred the same day as 27 migrants were killed when their dinghy burst while they tried to cross the English Channel.
He stated that he saw the boat blow up and had to add: 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.’
According to Mr Devos, “We passed by an inflatable boat that had been completely deflated. It was kept afloat by what little air was left.
“I don’t even know if they had children but we got up!” [the body of]An 18- or 20-year old man and a woman who were pregnant.
French coastguard releases a disturbing recording of the Mayday Call made by the French Coastguard after the Dinghy was found floating unoccupied seven miles off Calais.
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.
The patients were suffering from hypothermia and they spent last night in intensive medical care at the hospital.
Last night, Mr Aziz spoke to the Mail about his last conversation with Mohammad just an hour before the sinking.
As they waited for the Channel to open, the pair from Ranya (a northern Iraqi city) had already met at Dunkirk. Both had arrived in Europe through Belarus.
30-year-old Mr Aziz stated that Muhammad decided to go for it. In panic, he called me and told me that he was wondering if it was the right thing.
He said to me, “It’s not good”, that the engine was too weak and was afraid that the boat could sink. This was his last contact with me.
Afghans are still waiting for the Channel to be opened. Listed here is a picture of Shinai and Palowan who were feared to drown.
French authorities are yet to release names and confirm that Mohammad Aziz is one of 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 and dirty 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. It was not clear if their friends made it to safety to the UK, or were held by French authorities.
‘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 Shinai’s and Palowan were also in the boat. Two messages were left by them the other day: one morning, and another night. They asked me to go with them.
He said that Afghans refer to illegal crossings of borders as “The Game” and added: “Shinai kept calling, saying, Come on The Game. He didn’t allow me to 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.