Pregnant woman & 3 children killed in ‘floating death trap’ accident

Pregnant woman & 3 children killed in ‘floating death trap’ accident. 27 migrants died after reportedly being hit by a container ship.

The flimsy inflatable boat the migrants were travelling in has been labelled a “floating death trap”. The tragedy occurred on Wednesday, November 24 as migrants made their way from France to England via the Channel. Four alleged people traffickers have been taken into custody and are said to be facing manslaughter charges.

Only two men managed to escape with their lives. The victims are said to have paid around £6,000 each to make the crossing. Public prosecutor Carole Etienne is in charge of the criminal investigation into the incident. Etienne has said that autopsies will be carried out “over the next few days”.

Among the dead are seven women including one woman who was pregnant. Three children also died in the tragedy. According to the survivors, the inflatable was hit by a container ship.

Bernard Barron, president of the SNSM rescue service explained how the inflatable was “was completely deflated when we found it”.

He commented: “Migrants are forced into the boat, and their feet are in water and fuel. These are unimaginable conditions.

“Often only women and children have life jackets, and these boats don’t have navigation lights or radar receivers.”

One of the rescuers from SNSM explained: “We’ve seen the boats becoming more and more overcrowded.

“The inflatables are only designed for ten people, but more than 50 have been packed on board, turning them into floating death traps.

“We always thought that, one day or another, they were going to collide with a container ship or a ferry.”

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