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An inquiry into the biggest ever loss of life in a migrant dinghy in the Channel has heard that it was “entirely predictable” that a catastrophic event involving mass casualties would occur.
The Cranston inquiry began hearing evidence on Monday into how at least 27 people drowned on 24 November 2021 in the narrow stretch of water separating the UK from France.
The inquiry heard that the boat, thought to be carrying 33 people, including 13 women and eight children, was “wholly unsuitable”. Along with the 27 confirmed dead, four people remain missing, while two survived.
The dinghy, named Charlie by rescue services, was one of 209 boats that made the crossing in November 2021, the highest number recorded in a single month.
Although in the years following the mass drowning at least 128 more migrants have lost their lives in the Channel, according to the UN’s International Organisation for Migration, the November 2021 incident remains the largest single loss of life since migrant crossings of the Channel in small boats began in 2018.
The inquiry has been told about a litany of failings, including poor communication and understaffing at the Dover coastguard on the night, and a failure of Home Office intelligence sharing relating to the stricken dinghy. It emerged that Charlie was confused by authorities with another dinghy named Lima, which 35 people were successfully rescued from.
Rory Phillips KC, counsel to the inquiry, said: “No one in the UK was looking for Charlie and no one came to their rescue.”
Instead “incident Charlie” was marked as resolved and closed.
Prior to the incident the Maritime and Coastguard Agency had flagged on its corporate risk register that it may become overwhelmed, resulting in loss of life. A request for more staff did not bear fruit, the inquiry heard.
The boat left the French coast around 10pm on the night of 23 November 2021. About three hours later it started taking in water. The passengers began making panicked calls.
In what is described as a “harrowing” call at around 1.30am, 16-year old Iraqi Kurd Mubin Rizghar Hussein told the coastguard that everyone was in the water and “everything will be finished”.
At 2.30am he made another desperate call once again raising the alarm. He said the passengers were finished and would die. He was asked by the coastguard to stop calling.
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By 3.06am the boat was sinking and the last distress call was made at 3.11am.
Sonali Naik KC, counsel for survivor Issa Mohamed Omar and some of the bereaved relatives, told the inquiry that due to the multiple failings on the night of the mass drowning, including poor communication and understaffing, the entirely predictable, catastrophic event occurred. Omar said he felt part of the reason he survived was to be a voice for those who lost their lives.
Naik said that as early as September 2020 a lack of resources to rescue migrants in dinghies in distress had been flagged.
“It was only a matter of time before authorities would have to deal with so-called ‘non-survivors’,” she said.
The inquiry continues.
