The father of a baby girl killed in the English Channel says he fought desperately to hold on to her, but she slipped from his hands as people piled on to him and into the water when their dinghy capsized.
Maryam Bahez is thought to have been born on her family’s journey from Iraqi Kurdistan, as they travelled through Europe in the hope of making it to Britain.
She was just 40 days old when her parents and their two older sons climbed into an overcrowded vessel in Wissant, France on Thursday night and set off for England.
They wrapped the infant in a black bin bag, to try to keep her dry. But, barely 100m into the journey, the dinghy started to take on water, her father Aras told Sky News.
Maryam was just 40 days old
“Our feet were in the water, we all told the [driver] to please turn around, but he did not listen to anyone and just sailed,” he said.
“Then the water got to my waist, my trousers were submerged, then the dinghy burst and I don’t how it happened but everyone fell on top of each other, and on top of me and my little girl.”
“She went into the water but I brought her up, then a few others fell on us and then she went into the water and I brought her up for the second time, then others fell on me and then she slipped from my hand, and fell in the water the third time, and I lost her.”
The French coastguard spotted the problems and sent out several vessels and a helicopter, rescuing 65 people who were either still on board or in the sea.
But little Maryam was found in the water and later pronounced dead.
People arriving in Dover after crossing the Channel on the day Maryam died. Pic: PA
Her heartbroken dad says despite the horror they have been through, he will continue to try to get his wife and two surviving children into Britain.
“I will never try the sea route again, but I have come with the aim of getting to Britain so my children would have a future.
“So I can feed my children. I want to work, and raise my children like any other children.”
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This year has been the deadliest year ever for Channel crossings, with more than 50 people known to have been killed so far. Many drowned, while others suffocated in the crush of so many people being piled into these small, cramped boats.
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But Home Office figures also suggest more 26,000 people have successfully made the journey in that time, indicating the appetite for this perilous crossing is not going away.
People smugglers continue to make tens of thousands of pounds at a time as desperate families continue to seek to reach Britain, no matter the risk.