'It's a human disaster' Towns on frontline of tragic Channel deaths
The Guardian Weekly|September 13, 2024
Security around Calais has led to dinghies launching farther along the coast-and taking bigger risks at sea
Angelique Chrisafis
'It's a human disaster' Towns on frontline of tragic Channel deaths

The local fishing crews had been finishing their long night's work catching lobster and crab off the northern French port of Boulogne-sur-Mer when the mayday alert came in.

Axel Baheu and Gaëtan Baillet immediately rushed to their two boats to assist in the rescue. A small inflatable dinghy had ripped apart in the Channel with at least 60 people, mostly from Eritrea, on board, hoping to reach England. What the fishers saw would haunt them for ever, they said.

Twelve people died in the disaster last Tuesday; at least half of them were under 18, and 10 were female. Baheu, in his lobster boat, the Murex, pulled three bodies from the water. He told the Voix du Nord newspaper that his crew had wept as they had pulled in the casualties and seen the inadequate precautions they had tried to take for safety in the dangerous waters.

One girl, whom Baheu estimated had been between 15 and 20, had carefully placed her phone in a plastic pocket, firmly secured around her neck. The phone was ringing as her body was brought to shore. Of the approximately 65 people on board, only eight had lifejackets. One had been carrying a swimming float.

Baillet, who has never before had to pull a body from the water, said the dinghy had been going down rapidly: "Only a little bit at the back was left, the rest was sinking."

Bu hikaye The Guardian Weekly dergisinin September 13, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye The Guardian Weekly dergisinin September 13, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
Finn family murals
The Guardian Weekly

Finn family murals

The optimism that runs through Finnish artist Tove Jansson's Moomin stories also appears in her public works, now on show in a Helsinki exhibition

time-read
4 dak  |
November 08, 2024
I hoped Finland would be a progressive dream.I've had to think again Mike Watson
The Guardian Weekly

I hoped Finland would be a progressive dream.I've had to think again Mike Watson

Oulu is five hours north from Helsinki by train and a good deal colder and darker each winter than the Finnish capital. From November to March its 220,000 residents are lucky to see daylight for a couple of hours a day and temperatures can reach the minus 30s. However, this is not the reason I sense a darkening of the Finnish dream that brought me here six years ago.

time-read
3 dak  |
November 08, 2024
A surplus of billionaires is destabilising our democracies Zoe Williams
The Guardian Weekly

A surplus of billionaires is destabilising our democracies Zoe Williams

The concept of \"elite overproduction\" was developed by social scientist Peter Turchin around the turn of this century to describe something specific: too many rich people for not enough rich-person jobs.

time-read
4 dak  |
November 08, 2024
'What will people think? I don't care any more'
The Guardian Weekly

'What will people think? I don't care any more'

At 90, Alan Bennett has written a sex-fuelled novella set in a home for the elderly. He talks about mourning Maggie Smith, turning down a knighthood and what he makes of the new UK prime minister

time-read
10+ dak  |
November 08, 2024
I see you
The Guardian Weekly

I see you

What happens when people with acute psychosis meet the voices in their heads? A new clinical trial reveals some surprising results

time-read
10+ dak  |
November 08, 2024
Rumbled How Ali ran rings around apartheid, 50 years ago
The Guardian Weekly

Rumbled How Ali ran rings around apartheid, 50 years ago

Fifty years ago, in a corner of white South Africa, Muhammad Ali already seemed a miracle-maker.

time-read
3 dak  |
November 08, 2024
Trudeau faces 'iceberg revolt'as calls grow for PM to quit
The Guardian Weekly

Trudeau faces 'iceberg revolt'as calls grow for PM to quit

Justin Trudeau, who promised “sunny ways” as he won an election on a wave of public fatigue with an incumbent Conservative government, is now facing his darkest and most uncertain political moment as he attempts to defy the odds to win a rare fourth term.

time-read
3 dak  |
November 08, 2024
Lost Maya city revealed through laser mapping
The Guardian Weekly

Lost Maya city revealed through laser mapping

After swapping machetes and binoculars for computer screens and laser mapping, a team of researchers have discovered a lost Maya city containing temple pyramids, enclosed plazas and a reservoir which had been hidden for centuries by the Mexican jungle.

time-read
2 dak  |
November 08, 2024
'A civil war' Gangs step up assault on capital
The Guardian Weekly

'A civil war' Gangs step up assault on capital

Armed fighters advance into neighbourhoods at the heart of Port-au-Prince as authorities try to restore order

time-read
3 dak  |
November 08, 2024
Reality bites in the Himalayan 'kingdom of happiness'
The Guardian Weekly

Reality bites in the Himalayan 'kingdom of happiness'

High emigration and youth unemployment levels belie the mountain nation's global reputation for cheeriness

time-read
5 dak  |
November 08, 2024