The first confirmed victim of the channel’s tragedy ‘was trying to communicate with her husband in the UK’.
A 24-year-old Kurdish woman hoping to reunite with her husband in Britain has been named as the first confirmed victim of Wednesday’s English Channel tragedy.
Baran Nouri Hamadami, from northern Iraq, is said to have lost contact with his partner in the middle of the sea.
It is believed that she is one of 27 people who drowned while trying to cross the English Channel in an inflatable boat, which collapsed off the coast of Calais earlier this week.
It is understood that his body was identified by a relative in a facility in France, according to The Telegraph.
The Thursday before she was identified, her husband told her how concerned he was for her well-being.
He said that he had been following the movements of his wife, also known as Maryam, during their boat trip, when his GPS suddenly cut out.
“I’m in very bad shape,” he said.
‘She is not in the UK, which means she has left. It is very sad for me and for everyone.
“I had continuous contact with my wife and was tracking her GPS live. After 4 hours and 18 minutes, from the moment she got on that boat, I think they were in the middle of the sea, then I lost her. ‘
The husband, a Kurdish immigrant, said he spoke to his wife on the phone before his signal disappeared and she had told him that there were about 30 people crammed into the boat.
When he learned that a ship had sunk in the sea off France, he called the human smugglers who had organized the crossing, but they said they could not reach anyone on board.
His devastated family is believed to be holding a funeral for him in the Kurdish city of Irbil.
His cousin Krmanj Ezzat said Sky News from the family home in northern Iraq: ‘His mother and father are totally devastated.
‘The situation is terrible. She was a woman in the prime of her life. It’s a total tragedy and the whole family is in shock. ‘
He added: ‘I understand why so many people are leaving in search of a better life, but this is not the right path. It is the route of death. Please don’t take this route, it’s not worth it. ”
And addressing the British and French governments, he said: ‘We hoped that Britain and France would accept us in a better way.
“Anyone who wants to leave their home and travel to Europe has their own reasons and hopes, so please help them in a better way and do not force them to take this route of death.”
Wednesday’s tragedy claimed the lives of 17 men, seven women, including a pregnant woman, and three children.
French police arrested five suspected human traffickers in connection with the incident.
Those who lost their lives were mostly Iraqi, Iranian and Afghan Kurds.
There were two survivors, from Somalia and Iraq.
It has been speculated that a container ship may have collided with the boat, described as a ‘floating death trap’.
Earlier, it was revealed how a man feared he was one of the victims who called his terrified friend from the ship saying: ‘I don’t know if we will make it. ‘
The tragedy is the worst loss of life among people trying to reach the UK in search of a better life.
It has sparked a diplomatic dispute between France and Britain over how to stop the crossings.
Earlier today, France canceled talks with Britain after Boris Johnson wrote a letter to Emmanuel Macron urging him to take back the people who had crossed the English Channel.
The prime minister approached the French president with a five-point plan in the aftermath of Wednesday’s “catastrophe.”
But France described the letter as “unacceptable”, with Interior Minister Priti Patel now rejected from a summit of European ministers to be held in Calais on Sunday.
The numbers arriving in the UK by sea have risen from 8,417 in 2020 to more than 25,000 so far this year.
The tragedy did not stop desperate people trying to reach the UK by boat the next day.
An asylum seeker, who fears his two best friends died on Wednesday, said human smugglers are forcing migrants into crowded boats.
“ We have all heard stories about people being threatened with a gun unless they come up. ” he told The Mirror.
Boris Johnson has offered to send British troops into northern France to help stop the crossings alongside local patrols.
However, critics say this doesn’t make much of a difference, given that the shoreline used by ships is several hundred kilometers long.