PARIS: Fourteen people are to stand trial in France over the November 2021 deaths of at least 27 migrants in the deadliest recorded small boat crossing of the Channel, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The defendants, linked to people-smuggling networks, are accused of playing a role in the sinking in which at least 27 people, mainly Iraqi Kurds, died when their inflatable dinghy sank in the early hours of November 24, 2021. Four others are still believed to remain missing.
The sinking remains the deadliest recorded small-boat crossing of the Channel, a route used by thousands of migrants each year to reach Britain from France.
The 14 individuals, most of them born in Afghanistan and Iraq, face charges including manslaughter and criminal conspiracy, the national organized crime prosecutor’s office said.
In a separate probe linked to the sinking, at least seven French military personnel are under investigation for failing to help a person in danger.
