Early on Wednesday morning, a team from the news observed a crowded inflatable craft along the coast that was traveling north.
An hour later, a boat that looked similar—possibly the same one—was observed swerving toward a French beach that smugglers frequent close to the town of Wimereux in an attempt to pick up additional paying clients.
Though they arrived minutes too late, French police hurried to intercept the group before they could scramble on board. With far over forty people on board, some standing or clinging to the edges, the boat took out.
Local officials decided to send bulldozers and cleaning crews to demolish the temporary migrant camp outside Calais, which was occupied by many of the people on the crashed boat, while inquiries into Tuesday’s tragedy are still ongoing.
“I’m under pressure. Some of the dead I knew. A 23-year-old Eritrean guy, who wanted us to keep his identity anonymous, said, “The police have now taken my tent and all my things.”
According to French officials, the majority of the deceased, if not all of them, were from the unstable east African nation of Eritrea. A large number of young men have left the nation to avoid being drafted into the military.
