Migrants trying to cross the English Channel in a small boat made several emergency calls to UK authorities before they drowned, a new documentary and legal documents claim.
At least 27 people died, with five still missing and two survivors, after the dinghy hit trouble while heading from France to the UK in the early hours of November 24 last year.
An ITV documentary, The Crossing, has sought to piece together details of what happened. At the same time, logs released by France show how French and UK passed the buck over who had responsibility to rescue the migrants.
Lawyers acting for the families of the 32 dead or missing people have compiled evidence showing the victims made calls for help for more than two hours while their dinghy filled with water before they eventually drowned.
The logs, published by the Le Monde newspaper, show the passengers tried to contact both French and English rescue services, but no help was sent. Twelve hours after the first mayday call, the captain of a private boat reported bodies floating in the strait of Calais.
Logs and other evidence from the British coastguard have not been released as they remain subject to a separate investigation from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) that has not yet published its findings.
The development comes after the UK and France signed a new deal to try to tackle the small boats crisis.
Many of the migrants were on their phones calling emergency services, Mr Mohammed said.
“We asked people to empty their drinking water and use the bottles to help dry the boat,” he said.
“Lots of people were on their phones calling the emergency number.
“We told them there are children and families on board and we need help to save our lives.”
At least 27 die in English Channel crossing tragedy — in pictures
Mr Mohammed said the water was “very cold”.
“Children were screaming. All I could hear were the screams of people drowning,” he said. “I saw dead bodies floating by my side. That’s when the horror kicked in.”
Candlelit vigil in Calais held for migrants killed crossing the English Channel — video
Screams could be heard in the background as asylum seekers on board the stricken dinghy spoke to the French coastguard but were told to phone 999 because they were thought to be in English waters.
French authorities cut off a call, wrongly told victims a lifeboat was on its way and closed the operation at 4.34am because they received no more calls and assumed British rescuers had arrived.
They had not and nine hours later a French fisherman found the dead floating in the water.
How the nightmare unfolded
Passengers first phoned the French coastguard at 1.51am, call logs uncovered by French lawyers reveal.
The lawyers are suing the authorities for manslaughter.
At 3am the vessel capsized but in the two hours between no effort was made to rescue those on board.
The British coastguard told French authorities that it had made unsuccessful attempts to find the vessel, and in an email at 2.30am said a call had been made but a French dialling tone revealed the boat was in French waters.
In a 14-minute call at 1.51am, a man begs: “Please, please. We need help, if you please. Help us if you please.”
At the end of the call he is told his location has been received and help will be sent.
At 2.06am, a phone conversation between the English and French authorities indicated the position of the boat, which was then in French waters, 0.6 nautical miles from English waters.
At 2.10am, the boat again reported its location by WhatsApp. It was still in French waters.
At 2.33am, a position is again sent by a passenger to the French authorities, who then reply to say to call 999 as they are in English waters.
At 2.45am, a passenger contacted the French authorities and asked for assistance. The coastguard told him that the boat was in English waters and that they should contact 999.
The passengers called the French authorities 15 times between 2.43am and 4.22am.
At 2.46am, a passenger called the French authorities and asked for help, but the call was cut off.
About 3am, the boat overturned.
At 3.31am a passenger called the French authorities, saying they were “in the water”. The authorities replied: “Yes, but you are in English waters, sir”.
At 3:44am, a shipwrecked person contacted the French authorities again and called for help.
The French authorities again said they were in English waters and he should call 999.
He said he could not call them and was told: “They have already been informed. They are on their way.” Eventually the call was cut off.
At 4.08am, the English authorities called the French to tell them they received a distress call from a small boat but had “found nothing at this location”.
The French authorities thanked them for their call and told them their rescue vessel was on another operation.
At 4.09am, a passenger contacted French authorities and asked for help. The rescuer replied that “we have to wait” and that a lifeboat would “arrive in a few minutes”.
It was the last call received and 25 minutes later the French closed the job.
French has held an investigation into the incident with a hearing set to take place at the magistrates’ office in Paris on Friday.
Meanwhile, the British authorities are waiting for the outcome of a Marine Accident Investigation Branch investigation.
The government continues to face criticism over the incident.
“The callousness and apathy of authorities that leave tortured families waiting over a year for answers is scandalous,” said Clare Moseley, founder of Care4Calais.
“We must urgently know what lessons should be learnt from this incident before more people die.”
Matthew Schanck, a maritime expert instructed by lawyers for some of the victims’ families, told ITV: “The fact of the matter is over 30 people were left in the middle of one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, slowly perishing one by one, and almost nothing happened.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “Our thoughts are with the families of all of those who lost their lives in the tragic incident last November.
“All of the operational teams involved stand ready to respond 365 days a year and work tirelessly to save every person they possibly can.
“We cannot have a repeat of this devastating event and we are working tirelessly with our international partners to disrupt the people-smuggling gangs behind these dangerous crossings who are putting lives at risk with every journey they arrange.”
The Home Office said it would be inappropriate to comment further while the investigation was continuing.
Families of migrants who died crossing English Channel speak out — video
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
RESULT
Manchester City 1 Sheffield United 0
Man City: Jesus (9')
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
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- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
ORDER OF PLAY ON SHOW COURTS
Centre Court - 4pm (UAE)
Gael Monfils (15) v Kyle Edmund
Karolina Pliskova (3) v Magdalena Rybarikova
Dusan Lajovic v Roger Federer (3)
Court 1 - 4pm
Adam Pavlasek v Novak Djokovic (2)
Dominic Thiem (8) v Gilles Simon
Angelique Kerber (1) v Kirsten Flipkens
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Grigor Dimitrov (13) v Marcos Baghdatis
Agnieszka Radwanska (9) v Christina McHale
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What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
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$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
MATCH INFO
Manchester United v Manchester City, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match is on BeIN Sports
HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT
1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 1:39:46.713
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 00:00.908
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes-GP 00:12.462
4. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-GP 00:12.885
5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing 00:13.276
6. Fernando Alonso, McLaren 01:11.223
7. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso 1 lap
8. Sergio Perez, Force India 1 lap
9. Esteban Ocon, Force India 1 lap
10. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren 1 lap
11. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso 1 lap
12. Jolyon Palmer, Renault 1 lap
13. Kevin Magnussen, Haas 1 lap
14. Lance Stroll, Williams 1 lap
15. Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber 2 laps
16. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber 2 laps
17r. Nico Huelkenberg, Renault 3 laps
r. Paul Di Resta, Williams 10 laps
r. Romain Grosjean, Haas 50 laps
r. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing 70 laps
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars
