Dad of baby who drowned in English channel says she ‘slipped’ from his hands

A 40 day old baby girl who died in the English Channel ‘slipped’ from her father’s hands as he attempted to hold her.

Baby Maryam Bahez and her family had fled Iraqui Kurdistan and travelled through Europe in hopes of reaching England, but they encountered difficulties while crossing the channel.

Maryam, her mother, two brothers and father Aras told Sky News they had boarded a boat in Wissant, France and wrapped her in a bin bag to keep her dry.

Aras told Sky News the boat began to take on water: ‘Our feet were in the water, we all told the [driver] to please turn around, but he did not listen to anyone and just sailed.

‘Then the water got to my waist, my trousers were submerged, then the dinghy burst and I don’t how it happened but everyone fell on top of each other, and on top of me and my little girl.

‘She went into the water but I brought her up, then a few others fell on us and then she went into the water and I brought her up for the second time, then others fell on me and then she slipped from my hand, and fell in the water the third time, and I lost her.’

Multiple rescue boats were sent out from France, rescuing 65 people who were in the water.

Aras added: ‘I will never try the sea route again, but I have come with the aim of getting to Britain so my children would have a future. So I can feed my children. I want to work, and raise my children like any other children.’

More than 50 people have already died in the Channel this year while attempting to cross to Britain.

Earlier this month, a child was ‘trampled to death’ at the bottom of a boat attempting to make the treacherous journey across the English Channel.

Several more people were killed after two incidents with small boats off the coast of France.

Local newspaper, La Voix Du Nord, has reported that three people had died off Calais and one near Boulogne.

France24 reported that the child, understood to be aged about four, was found in a boat and not in the water.

Another person was wounded and airlifted to hospital in the city of Boulogne, on the north coast.

A French tow vessel, the Abeille Normandie, is reported to have picked up at least 14 people on board. They were brought to the commercial port.

The incident was not a shipwreck and the boat and its other occupants continued its journey across the Channel.

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