PUBLISHED NOV 25, 2021 1:42 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

French and British authorities are both reporting that they believed an unnamed containership is responsible for the largest migrant accident which claimed many lives in the English Channel. French authorities are reporting between 27 and 31 people died when the inflatable raft they were in sunk with one person still unaccounted for and only two survivors rescued in what is becoming the latest international indecent between the countries.

It began to unfold on November 24 after a local fisherman reported seeing bodies in the English Channel. French and British rescue authorities began a search with the French reporting they recovered the bodies which included at least seven women and three children. French rescue authorities had requested the assistance of all vessels in the area in the frantic search while French and British rescue vessels and helicopters also searched the water. They reported that only a few of the individuals appeared to have lifejackets but most succumbed to hypothermia in the water.

Speaking to the two survivors they were able to piece together a report that said the 32-foot inflatable dingy meant to hold a maximum of 10 people had set out from a beach near Dunkirk in poor weather conditions in an attempt to make it across the Channel. The survivors indicated that they were hit by a large ship that caused the dingy to immediately deflate sending everyone into the water. The French authorities were able to recover the dingy and bring it to shore.

 

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