Picture of migrant revealed after dinghy capsized in Channel tragedy
Pulled from the jaws of death: Harrowing picture of young migrant is revealed after heroic fishing crew rescued more than 30 from icy waters – while four others lost their lives as dinghy capsized in Channel tragedy
- Royal Navy, French navy, Coastguard and RNLI lifeboats all involved in rescue
- The migrants, from Afghanistan, Iraq, Senegal and India, paid £5,000 for the trip
- Sources initially said 43 people were rescued, but this has been revised to 39
This harrowing picture reveals a young migrant who was pulled from the jaws of death early yesterday after a flimsy dinghy capsized in the English Channel.
More than 30 were pulled from the icy waters by the heroic fishing crew of the 80ft scallop boat Arcturus, while four others lost their lives in the tragedy.
The Royal Navy, French navy, Coastguard and RNLI lifeboats were all involved in a major rescue operation off the Kent coast on Wednesday morning.
RNLI lifeboats were launched from Dover at 3.07am, followed by more from Ramsgate and Hastings.
This harrowing picture reveals a young migrant who was pulled from the jaws of death early yesterday after a flimsy dinghy capsized in the English Channe
The Royal Navy, French navy, Coastguard and RNLI lifeboats were all involved in a major rescue operation off the Kent coast on Wednesday morning
Charles Blyth is the safety officer at Oceanic Drift Fishing, the company that owns the trawler which saved the migrants.
He told the Today programme on Radio 4: ‘The vessel was about 30 miles into the Channel at the time. The skipper was asleep and the first mate was on watch.
‘I think it was just by sheer coincidence that our vessel was in the right place at the right time to initiate a rescue.
‘As soon as the first mate saw the causality vessel, the alarm was raised, the skipper was out of bed and the coastguard was contacted simultaneously while the dinghy was brought alongside the fishing vessel.
‘They were the first on the scene and they immediately started trying to recover all of the individuals out of the water.
‘I believe soon after the rescue was initiated there were other resources on the scene from the RNLI and the navy.’
More than 30 were pulled from the icy waters by the heroic fishing crew of the 80ft scallop boat Arcturus (pictured), while four others lost their lives in the tragedy
He continued: ‘I believe as soon as the individuals on that dinghy saw the fishing vessel, many of them started to jump off and swim towards our fishing vessel.
‘I must stress how much of a dangerous environment that is. At the time, our vessel was engaged in fishing and she is a scallop dredger.
‘I am aware that the skipper immediately brought the gear up to the water line to improve the maneuverability of our vessel and also provide some sort of platform for these individuals to hang onto while we tried to recover them.’
Captain Raymond Strachan, 54, said he was woken just before 3am by his crew who had found people in the freezing waters.
Those he rescued said they came from Afghanistan, Iraq, Senegal and India, and told him they had each paid £5,000 to a smuggler in France for passage to the UK.
They were each given a warm shower before being handed the crew’s dry clothing and covered with quilts to get their body temperatures up.
Captain Raymond Strachan, 54, said he was woken just before 3am by his crew who had found people in the freezing waters
Survivors said they had paid a people smuggling gang £5,000 per person for the crossing
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expressed his ‘sorrow’ at the ‘capsizing of a small boat’ in the Channel, telling MPs there had been a ‘tragic loss of human life’.
A spokesman for a French charity said it was sent a voice message in the early hours of the morning from migrants in a waterlogged boat begging for help and that babies could be heard screaming in the background.
A Government spokesman said: ‘At 0305 today, authorities were alerted to an incident in the Channel concerning a migrant small boat in distress.
‘After a co-ordinated search and rescue operation led by HM Coastguard, it is with regret that there have been four confirmed deaths as a result of this incident.
‘Investigations are ongoing and we will provide further information in due course.
‘This is a truly tragic incident. Our thoughts are with the friends and families of all those who have lost their lives today.’
Government sources initially said 43 people were rescued, but the figure has since been revised to 39 after updated information from authorities involved.
Nikolai Posner, communications officer for Utopia 56 which helps migrants in Calais, said a 22-second WhatsApp voice note was left at around 2am UK time.
In the message, a man can be heard saying there was water inside the boat with ‘families and kids’ on board, Mr Posner said.
A huge rescue operation is launched after a migrant boat carrying more than 30 people capsized in the freezing cold English Channel. Circled is one of the RNLI rescue boats
He said: ‘It was clearly an emergency, he was calling for help … In the background of the message we can hear babies screaming.’
Mr Posner said the charity tried to respond to the message but the reply was not received, then they contacted both the French and UK coastguards.
It is unclear why a rescue boat was only launched an hour after the charity informed authorities of the distress message, Mr Posner said, adding: ‘We don’t know what really happened during that time.’
In audio of the voice note, obtained by Channel 4 News, a man can be heard saying: ‘We’re in a boat and we have a problem. Please help. We have children and families in a boat.
‘Water is coming in. We don’t have anything for this, for feeling safety. Please help me bro. Please, please. We are in the water. We have a family.’
Meanwhile, a fisherman told Sky News that migrants surrounded his boat in the early hours of the morning ‘screaming for help’.
The skipper, named only as Raymond, said his crew saved 31 people stranded in the Channel, adding: ‘It was like something out of a Second World War movie – there were people in the water everywhere, screaming.’
Footage broadcast by Sky News showed a group of people, squashed inside a sinking dinghy which was filling with water, being hauled up over the side of a boat with rope.
RNLI lifeboats were launched from Dover at 3.07am, followed by more from Ramsgate and Hastings
In the Commons, Mr Sunak said: ‘I’m sure the whole House will share my sorrow at the capsizing of a small boat in the Channel in the early hours of this morning, and the tragic loss of human life.
‘Our hearts go out to all those affected and our tributes to those involved in the extensive rescue operation.’
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: ‘Our prayers go out to those who capsized in the freezing waters of the Channel last night.
‘It’s a reminder that the criminal gangs running those routes put the lives of the desperate at risk and profit from their misery. They must be broken up and brought to justice.’
Dover and Deal MP Natalie Elphicke urged Mr Sunak to ‘meet urgently’ with French President Emmanuel Macron to set up joint patrols in the Channel and on the beaches to prevent boats entering the water and to save lives.
‘Urgent action is needed now,’ the Tory said.
In Dover, a black body bag was brought ashore on a stretcher from the Dover RNLI lifeboat at around 11.15am and taken to forensics tents outside the RNLI headquarters.
There are likely to have been freezing temperatures in the Channel overnight amid a cold snap sweeping across the UK.
The tragedy came after Mr Sunak unveiled a raft of new measures in a bid to curb Channel crossings as he told MPs: ‘We have to stop the boats.’
More than 44,000 people have made the dangerous crossing this year, Government figures show.
At least 27 migrants died when a dinghy sank while heading to the UK from France in November last year.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman expressed her ‘profound sadness’ at the news and said: ‘These are the days that we dread. Crossing the Channel in unseaworthy vessels is a lethally dangerous endeavour.
‘It is for this reason, above all, that we are working so hard to destroy the business model of the people smugglers – evil, organised criminals who treat human beings as cargo.
‘This morning’s tragedy, like the loss of 27 people on one November day last year, is the most sobering reminder possible of why we have to end these crossings.’
In a joint statement with French interior minister Gerald Darmanin, Ms Braverman noted the UK-French efforts to tackle illegal migration and resolve ‘with our European neighbours, to intensify our police, border and judicial cooperation’.
Campaigners sought to blame the Government’s ‘hostile’ asylum policies for the deaths which they said were ‘predictable and avoidable’.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said the incident showed ‘debates about asylum seekers are not about statistics, but precious human lives’.
Border Force rescue response is now ‘well-honed’ machine
Former Border Force director general Tony Smith told Sky News that the operational response to incidents in the Channel was now well-honed and ‘an awful lot of lives’ have been saved.
‘I think we can only count our blessings that we haven’t seen more incidents like this,’ he said.
‘But we really do need to hammer home the message through media not to do this, not to pay smugglers to get into a boat.
‘It’s very tempting when you can see the cliffs of Dover from the beaches of Calais, sometimes it looks very simple, but these are dangerous waterways…
‘We’ve really got to discourage people from trying this and not falling into the hands of human smugglers who really don’t care about human life.
‘I’ve dealt with them in my career. They’re not interested in that they’re only interested in the money.’
Mr Smith said that would-be migrants ‘don’t want to be detected’ on the French coast because they will be stopped, and often choose to embark at night.
‘This will have been dark, it will have been cold, the people will have been frightened but they would have been assured by the pilot or by somebody behind this, ‘This is easy. Don’t worry about this. It’s not very far. Just get in here, and everything’s going to be okay.’
‘And that’s what happens. So that’s why the messaging is so important… please do not, do not engage with human smugglers to get across the English Channel.
‘We have to stop this, we have to stop the boats because I’m afraid this is highly, highly dangerous.
‘When a vessel runs into trouble on the English Channel, we cannot guarantee your safety – we can only do everything in our power to try and save lives.
‘But we cannot guarantee that because these are really, really difficult conditions and these are dangerous waters and I’m afraid that message is not played up enough in this whole debate.’
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