Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/LONDON: The United Kingdom’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch is looking into the response by the British authorities to a boat carrying migrants that sank in December 2022 with the loss of at least four lives.
According to Arab News, concerns had been raised over the speed with which the emergency services had responded to distress calls from the passengers, who included teenagers and unaccompanied children.
The charity initially contacted the French coastguard after receiving a message from the passenger pleading for help, the newspaper reported. “We are in a boat, and we have the issues. Please help us. There are families and children in the boat, and water is coming in from the back. We are in the water,” a caller said.
French authorities said that they quickly determined the vessel was entering British waters. They alerted United Kingdom coastguards in Dover and “gave full support and assistance to the British authorities.”
Officials estimated the boat entered British waters at around 2:30 am. Shortly after 3 am, a passing fishing vessel spotted the sinking boat and began to pull out the people from the water. Its captain told the Independent, he saw “people in the water everywhere, screaming,” and his crew scrambled to save as several people as they could.
Fishing boat the first vessel to arrive at scene
The British government has said that the UK search and rescue operation began at 2:16 am but confirmed the fishing boat was the first vessel to arrive at the scene. It said that 39 people were rescued from the water, but four people died.
Following years of raising numbers of small boats crossing the English Channel, the UK government has been accused of putting lives at the risk by failing to establish legal, safer routes for asylum seekers to reach the UK.
“The focus of the investigation would be on the UK’s emergency response, and an MAIB spokesperson said. “The mechanism for the foundering of the small boat would also be explored.”
