a man indicted after the death of a migrant in a shipwreck

A boat leaving from Pas-de-Calais with around sixty migrants on board had capsized off the coast of the North. One passenger died and two others are “apparently missing”, according to the maritime prefecture.

A man of Syrian nationality was indicted and imprisoned as part of the investigation into the shipwreck in the English Channel which cost the life of a migrant on Friday, announced the prosecutor of Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais) , Sunday December 17.

The man from Syrian Kurdistan, born in 1993, is suspected of having piloted the boat that left Oye-Plage (Pas-de-Calais) on the night of Thursday to Friday, with around sixty migrants on board, including children. The boat capsized off the coast of Gravelines (North), killing one person and two passengers. “apparently missing”according to the maritime prefecture.

The man, who denies the facts, was indicted for involuntary homicide, involuntary injury, deliberate endangerment and aiding illegal entry and stay, the prosecutor said. The second pilot is still being sought.

Another death the same day

Another migrant was killed on Friday on Sangatte beach, during an attempted crossing which came to an end. As part of this investigation, a 33-year-old Iraqi man was still in police custody on Sunday, said the Boulogne-sur-Mer public prosecutor’s office. His police custody was extended to 96 hours, the authorized duration for a suspected case of organized crime. The cause of the victim’s death remains to be determined, as his autopsy has not yet taken place on Sunday.

On Friday alone, 292 migrants reached the United Kingdom after crossing the Channel in seven boats, according to a count from the British Home Office. Some 29,000 migrants have crossed the Channel on small boats since the start of the year, compared to 44,000 last year on the same date, the Northern prefecture announced on December 4.