ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A family of five Iranian Kurds, including three children, died after a boat carrying nearly two dozen migrants capsized off the French coast while trying to reach England on Tuesday, family members confirmed to Rudaw on Wednesday.
Rasul Irannazhad, 35, Shewa Mohammed Panahi, 25, and their three children Anita, Armin and Artin aged nine, six, and one year old respectively, all perished in the tragedy.
There were believed to have been about 20 migrants on board, meaning more may still be missing, according to AFP.
Border police are now investigating the incident.
The Kurdish family was from Sardasht city, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. They had been in France for more than one month and had left Iran due to difficult living conditions, according to Irannazhad’s brothers.
"Rasul was a construction worker in Sardasht. Sometimes he was working in the garden and orchards. He dropped out of school in grade four," his brother Ali said, adding that he had to borrow money from his family members to pay for the trip.
"It was the third time that they had attempted to cross to the UK. Two times they wanted to cross via train and the last time they wanted to cross by boat," said another brother Khalil, who last spoke to his brother on Monday.
"We begged him to not try to cross by boat. He insisted on going," Khalil added.
According to Khalil, they had initially reached Italy from Turkey via boat before ending up in France.
"He told me that there were giant sea waves. He said 'if I knew it was this dangerous, I would have never tried it'," Khalil said of his brother’s journey to Italy.
Khalil said his brother had initially decided to stay in Germany or Switzerland, "but I do not know why he changed his mind."
Reactions
“My thoughts are with the loved ones of those who tragically lost their lives in the Channel today,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted on Tuesday.
Johnson said the British government would “crack down on the ruthless criminal gangs who prey on vulnerable people by facilitating these dangerous journeys.”
A growing number of migrants have tried to reach Britain across the perilous and busy shipping lane in recent months, with four deaths recorded in 2019 and seven so far this year, according to AFP.
NGO Save The Children has appealed to the French and British governments to provide "safe and legal routes for desperate families fleeing conflict, persecution and poverty."
The Channel "must not become a graveyard for children," it added.
Translation by Zhelwan Z Wali
