France Opens Trial Over Deadliest Channel Migrant Disaster
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Paris: Fourteen men went on trial in France on Tuesday over the 2021 English Channel migrant boat disaster that killed at least 31 people, including a 7 year old girl, in the deadliest small-boat crossing recorded in the Channel.
On November 24, 2021, the migrants, mostly Iraqi Kurds, were attempting to reach Britain through northern France when their overcrowded collapsable dinghy deflated and sank in a busy shipping route. Only two people survived, with several others still missing.
The defendants are accused of being involved in people-smuggling networks and face charges of involuntary murder, assisting illegal immigration as part of an organised gang, and criminal conspiracy. Two of them are on trial in absentia.
The trial is expected to look at evidence from survivors, phone records, and GPS data. A separate probe has questioned how French and British rescue services responded to emergency calls that night.
The procedures in Paris are slated to last until September 30, with victims' families present to seek accountability for the calamity.
Photo: File Photo
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