People 'screamed and suffocated' on boat where girl, 7, died crossing Channel

01 May 2024 , 10:28

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Sara (right) with her brother, Hussam, and sister, Rahaf (Image: BBC)

A seven-year-old girl who died along with four adults as they attempted to cross the English Channel has been named by her distraught dad who was with her on the small boat.

Little Sara was with her dad Ahmed Alhashimi who said the sea was the only choice they had. Sobbing, he said people were screaming for help as they struggled for space and suffocated on the inflatable boat as they headed for Calais.

He said he saw people dying in front of them and he couldn't get to his daughter. "I could not protect her. I will never forgive myself. But the sea was the only choice I had," he told the BBC.

He added that just before the boat left it was flooded with a large group of young men. He said he was trying to pull Sara up, but said he was ignored and then threatened by the men.

Ahmed and his family had attempted to settle in the EU for many years, to no avail (BBC)

Ahmed, who is an Iraqi, said his daughter had never even visited the country - she was born in Belgium and had spent most of her short life in Sweden. He said: "I just wanted him to move so I could pull my baby up. That time was like death itself. We saw people dying. I saw how those men were behaving. They didn't care whom they were stepping on - a child, or someone's head, young or old. People started to suffocate."

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In all, five people died in the incident. The National Crime Agency has said a 23-year-old Sudanese national was detained in Hayes, west London, and is being interviewed by officers. He has been arrested on suspicion of assisting illegal immigration and entering the UK illegally.

Seven-year-old Sara suffocated on the boat (BBC)

The move comes as two other males from South Sudan and Sudan have been charged over the incident, but disputes about their ages and if they are youths has delayed court proceedings. The pair said they are 15 and 16 years old, while initial age assessments by immigration officers and a social worker placed them in their early 20s.

Further in-depth assessments have been ordered by Folkestone Youth Court. The National Crime Agency had said it is working with Kent Police, Immigration Enforcement and Border Force to support the French-led investigation into the incident on the beach near Wimereux in northern France last Tuesday.

Kelly-Ann Mills