He expresses his deep pain after his tragic attempt. The father of Maryam, the infant who disappeared between France and the United Kingdom this Thursday, told Sky News this Saturday the circumstances of the death of his daughter in the Channel, when she was only a few weeks old .
During the night from Thursday to Friday, Aras Bahez, originally from Iraqi Kurdistan, attempted to illegally cross the Channel with his wife, two of his sons and their young daughter, departing from Wissant, in Pas-de-Calais.
Maryam, born during her family’s trip from Iraqi Kurdistan to Europe, was packed in a black trash bag to stay dry at sea. But the boat that carried her family and dozens of others passengers did not hold. 100 m from the shore, it began to take on water.
“Our feet were in the water, we all told the driver to turn around, but he didn’t listen, and continued sailing. The water then came to my waist, my pants were submerged. The boat exploded, and I don’t know how it happened, but everyone fell on each other, on me and on my little girl,” Aras tells Sky News.
“I lost her”
“She fell in the water but I picked her up, then a few more fell on us and then she fell in the water and I pulled her up a second time, then some more fell on me and then it slipped out of my hands and fell into the water a third time, and I lost it,” the father remembers.
The tragedy led to the deployment of several rescue vessels and a Belgian helicopter. The boat “was torn apart in its center, some of the passengers falling into the water, while others held on to the pneumatic elements,” the public prosecutor of Boulogne-sur-Mer told AFP, Guirec Le Bras.
The emergency services then took care of 68 people, or “52 men, 12 women and four children (…), mainly of Iranian, Iraqi, Albanian and Eritrean nationality”, according to the prosecutor. But “among these, the lifeless body of a four-month-old infant was noted”, on board “with his parents and two other children”, said the prosecutor. Speaking to Sky News, Aras Bahez, the baby’s father, however clarified that his little girl was in fact 40 days old.
At least 52 dead in the Channel
Despite the tragedy, Aras Bahez says he wants to try again to reach the United Kingdom. “I will never try the sea route again, but I came with the aim of reaching Great Britain so that my children have a future,” he explains, saying he wants to “feed his children, work and raise his children like any other children.
After the accident, an investigation was opened in particular for “manslaughter by clearly deliberate violation of an obligation of safety or prudence”. In this context, the services of the Office for Combating Illicit Trafficking of Migrants (Oltim) “are interviewing 50 shipwreck victims as witnesses,” indicated the public prosecutor of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
According to British authorities, more than 26,000 migrants have arrived in England after crossing the Channel since the start of the year. At least 52 people died attempting this dangerous crossing, according to a count carried out by AFP based on official figures.
These victims regularly include children. On September 3, half of the twelve victims of the worst shipwreck of the year, which left 12 dead, were minors. On October 5, a two-year-old child was crushed to death in a boat carrying nearly 90 people and its engine broke down.
