A man has said his son and seven others died after being “stomped on” in a packed migrant boat as people became trapped just minutes into the journey.
Kameran Mohammad told Sky News his son, Dyari, was among at least eight killed in Sunday’s incident in the Channel.
A 10-month-old baby with hypothermia was taken to hospital with five others, as 51 people were rescued.
Dyari, 24, died in the overloaded boat
Mr Mohammad said they boarded at night but – like many crossings – the boat was packed with far too many people.
“When we boarded, within five minutes we found ourselves at the feet of other passengers… We carried on for around half an hour,” he said.
“There was water in the boat but I am not sure if there was a hole in the boat or it was the water from the waves.”
Mr Mohammad described a situation that rapidly deteriorated for those on board – who he said included Kurds, Vietnamese, “black people”, Afghans and Persians.
“I was aware that my son was screaming but we could not move because we were under the people’s feet,” he said.
“It was not just us, there were other passengers under people’s feet. Those eight people who died were stomped on and did not drown.”
Mr Mohammad said the crossing was abandoned after the crush and the boat tried to return to France.
However, officials said the boat “tore apart on the rocks” off Ambleteuse in the Pas-de-Calais region – and that only one in six people on board had a life jacket.
“I was unconscious and they poured water in my face to come round,” said Mr Mohammad.
“They took down eight corpses and I saw one was my son. He died under others’ feet.”
Pictures of the wreck show several black rubber rings that appear to be children’s toys and French authorities have not yet confirmed how the migrants died.
Pic: AFP via Getty Images
Mr Mohammed said there were 24 people in his group and that he was one of four Kurds.
However, he told Sky News he met someone in hospital who said they were part of another group of 68 on the same boat – suggesting around 90 people were on board.
“If there were 50 people, it would be fine,” he said. “Half of the passengers were at the feet of other passengers here.”
He said he had been told the boat was 9m (29ft) long.
The deaths come less than two weeks after at least 12 people, including 10 women and girls, died after another boat tore apart in the Channel.
Some 801 people migrants in 14 boats made it to the UK on Saturday – the second-highest this year – and 292 people in six boats crossed on Sunday.
French authorities also rescued about 200 people off the coast of Calais over a 24-hour period between Friday and Saturday night.
At least 45 people have died in Channel crossings this year.
More than 21,000 people arrived in the UK in small boats between January and September, according to government figures.
Labour has pledged to tackle the migrant crisis by focussing on the criminal gangs behind the operation.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is in Italy today to meet his counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, and has promised “a new era” of cooperation to dismantle the people smuggling networks.
Migrants attempt to cross the Channel from France on 4 September. Pic: Reuters
Italy has experienced a 60% drop in illegal migration across the Mediterranean Sea in the past year and has recently signed a controversial deal with neighbouring Albania.
Sir Keir said he was “interested” in how the arrangement worked but he’s more interested in “work around organised immigration crime, the smuggling, the trafficking gangs, because that’s delivering results straight away”.
The government has said it will increase deportation flights and use money saved from the Tories’ Rwanda scheme to help tackle the crossings.