Heartbreaking 2am plea calling for help was sent from sinking boat in Channel's icy waters before four migrants died | The Sun
December 15, 2022A HEARTBREAKING 2am plea calling for help was sent from the sinking boat on the English Channel.
Four migrants sadly lost their lives in the icy waters yesterday trying to cross over to the UK from France.
In a distressed WhatsApp voice note, a desperate migrant onboard explains how the boat is filling up with water.
The 22 second recording said: "We are in the water and we have a family," reports i.
It is understood a child could be heard crying in the background.
Shortly before capsizing, the message was delivered to Utopia 56 – a charity supporting migrants in Calais.
READ MORE ON UK NEWS
April Jones’ warped killer saved photos of her sister on his computer
Four migrants died in Channel’s icy waters after paying gangs £5k each
Spokesman Nikolai Posner said: “In the background of the message we can hear babies screaming.
“The man said the water was inside the boat and so they were in the water inside the boat, that families and kids were on board and that they needed emergency help.
"It was like ‘Help us, help us, help us, we need help’. He sounded young, probably from the Middle East.”
An email was then sent to the UK coastguard at 2.13am issuing a warning of a boat in distress.
Most read in The Sun
Ellen DeGeneres' talk show DJ Stephen 'tWitch' Boss dies 'by suicide' aged 40
Maisie Smith reveals rock hard abs as she poses in bikini during Lapland break
Support for Mick Lynch's strikes plummets as members lose £5k in earnings
Freddie Flintoff airlifted to hospital after terrifying Top Gear car smash
However, authorities were not alerted until 3.05am.
The Government said they could not explain the delay in response – which eventually saw 39 people rescued.
A British fishing boat helped to pull survivors out of the flimsy and crowded dinghy.
Those they saved in the two-hour rescue told crew they had paid smuggling gangs £5,000 each for a crossing.
Last November at least 27 migrants drowned after their dinghy overturned.
More than 44,711 people have made the dangerous crossing on board small boats so far this year.
On Tuesday PM Rishi Sunak announced new measures to stop the boats. Yesterday he expressed his sorrow at the “tragic loss of human life”.
Source: Read Full Article
