By HENRY MARTIN and RORY TINGLE FOR MAILONLINE and DAVID BARRETT
Four members of a Kurdish-Iranian family who paid people smugglers £21,600 for a new life in Britain drowned while trying to cross the Channel – after a relative ‘begged’ them not to go, it emerged today.
Construction worker Rasoul Iran-Nejad, 35, his wife Shiva Mohammad Panahi, 35, along with Anita, nine, and Armin, six, perished after the crammed sightseeing boat they were travelling in capsized in rough conditions, with winds of up to 57mph and five-foot waves.
Their toddler son, Artin, is yet to be found, BBC Persian reported, but French officials have called off searches and said there is no hope of finding any more survivors. Two migrant adults are also reportedly still missing.
Mr Iran-Nejad had sold everything in the hope of achieving a better future for his family, his brother, Khalil Irannazhad, said in a phone call from their home city of Sardasht in western Iran, near the Iraqi border.
He revealed that it was the family’s third attempt at crossing into Britain, following two abortive tries via train.
Tragic final pictures have emerged showing the family in France hours before their fateful journey.
The Iran-Nejads, whose initial destination was due to have been Germany or Switzerland, are thought to have sold all their possessions and borrowed money from relatives to make it to Britain, where they are said to have family.
Mr Irannazhad said he last spoke to his brother on Monday, when he urged him not to attempt the crossing. ‘We begged him to not try to cross by boat but he insisted on going,’ he told the Telegraph.
‘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.’
A series of text messages, thought to have been sent by Ms Mohammad Panahi on Saturday includes one that says the family ‘have no choice’ but to cross the Channel.
Another message says: ‘If we want to go with a lorry we might need more money that we don’t have,’ the BBC reports.
A third says: ‘I have a thousand sorrows in my heart and now that I have left Iran I would like to forget my past.’
The Iran-Nejad family left West Azerbaijan Province in Iran on August 7 to travel to Turkey and on to Greece, where they were arrested.
They were deported back to Turkey after they were arrested, strip-searched and tear-gassed by Greek police, Iranian Kurds have revealed.
One migrant who travelled with them from Turkey back to mainland Europe claimed that they had ‘lost all their belongings’ and were given money to ‘buy new clothes’ after their deportation from Greece.
The migrant, who asked not to be identified, said he had taken pity on them when he met them in Turkey. ‘They had lost all their belongings,’ he told The Times. ‘I gave them some money to buy new clothes.’
The Iran-Nejads then sailed across the Aegean Sea a second time, but to Italy where they avoided arrest.
From Italy, the family crossed the border from Italy into France in lorries, stopping in several cities along the way, unnamed migrants said.
One Kurd told The Daily Telegraph: ‘I took pity on them and gave them some money to buy new clothes.’
‘We travelled together from Turkey to Italy by ship. Then we all travelled from Italy to France by truck, stopping in several cities, but were separated and only met back up in this camp.
‘The family were so frustrated by their treatment in Greece and France that they were desperate to get to the UK. They knew it was dangerous but were prepared to take the risk. The mother said my future is lost because my fingerprints were taken in Italy, as were my husband’s, but I hope my children can have a future in Britain.’
According to Mr Iran-Nejad’s brother Khalil Irannazhad, the patriarch had initially decided to stay in Germany or Switzerland before changing his mind and carrying on to France.
Family members claim that the Iran-Nejads then stayed on a camp near Calais before moving to Puythouck, but were evicted by police and moved to a nearby hotel after social services found them a room.
Sources told The Times that Mr Iran-Nejad was leant money to pay smuggling gangs to get them into Britain.
The family made three attempts to cross to the UK. The first two times, they wanted to cross by train, and the last time they wanted to cross by boat.
‘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 Khalil.
‘We begged him to not try to cross by boat. He insisted on going.’
Iraqi-Kurd Choman Manish, 37, said that the ‘beautiful friendly family’ had told him of plans to join others on a small boat on Tuesday morning – but he too advised them not to go by boat.
He told them: ‘It’s not good and a really bad situation if you stay in the water,’ Sky News reports.
Mr Manish said: ‘I said, it will be bad for you. They told me God is big. I know God is big, but what can I do.
‘I told them many times, but they never accepted my word… They trusted in God, they think God will protect them.’
Mr Manish has been at the Dunkirk jungle – along with more than 500 other migrants – for more than four months.
He said that everyone at the camp – many of whom are Kurdish – is upset over the tragedy, ‘but what can we do’.
The family had left Iran on August 7 to travel to Turkey, before taking a ferry to Italy and rode in the back of lorries to France almost a month ago, according to a friend who remained in Calais.
In Calais, they were staying in a camp near the town before moving to the Puythouck site, but were evicted by police and moved to a nearby hotel after social services found them a room, ahead of their crossing on Tuesday.
Police believe the boat they crammed into was a small, rigid craft usually used for sightseeing excusions close to the shore, The Times reported.
The 20ft boat should only have carried 18 people but at least 22 – possibly as many as 28 -people were on board, with the the tragic family in a cabin, leaving them trapped when it capsized at around 8.30am yesterday off the coast of Loon-Plage near Dunkirk.
The French-flagged Marbuzet, a 40ft-long pleasure craft, was passing by and told the coastguard, which rescued fifteen survivors who had suffered cardiac arrest and hypothermia. That puts the estimated death toll at seven, with three people yet to be found, including the toddler.
Farhad Shekari, 28, a migrant who is also from Sardasht, said he had urged the family not to attempt the crossing. He had been due to travel with them but decided against it after seeing the number of people trying to board the flimsy vessel.
He told the Telegraph: ‘There were 22 people in the boat and I said there are too many people and I didn’t want to go. The family got on anyway. But I persuaded another not to get on board. They got angry with me, but I stopped them from getting on the boat.’
Alain Ledaguenel, the president of the French coastguard (SNCM), said the boat was a death trap, adding: ‘It wasn’t a dingy but a polyester amateur fishing boat. It was overloaded and capsized because it almost certainly hit a wave sideways.’
Kurdish journalist Sarook Sarkda, 37, who is from Iran, said the smugglers who owned the boat were forcing people to get onboard before the fatal crossing.
And Mr Shekari added: ‘[The people smuggler] was forcing people to get on the boat. He was saying go, go, go, even though not everyone had life jackets.
‘The smugglers are only interested in one thing and that is money.’
After the deadliest tragedy of the Channel migrant crisis so far, Boris Johnson vowed to ‘crack down’ on brutal people smugglers who have fueled a surge in crossings.
A Kurdish Iraqi migrant who befriended the family at the makeshift camp where they were staying in Dunkirk said the family wanted to join at least one other relative already in the UK.
There is confusion about how many people died in the incident, with some sources putting the figure as high as 28 but others saying 22.
The tragedy has prompted fury at vicious smuggling gangs who are blamed for fueling the rise in crossings, with Boris Johnson vowing a ‘crackdown’ after the worst loss of life during migrant crisis so far.
Dover MP Natalie Elphicke tweeted: ‘It is terrible that tragedy has struck in the Channel again. People traffickers have no regard for life, no matter how old or young.’
Meanwhile, Alp Mehmet, from Migration Watch, blamed French officials for not preventing the ‘totally avoidable’ tragedy.
He told Talk Radio: ‘Why didn’t they stop them from sailing in the first place? We are talking about a lot of people in a big boat, someone should have noticed.’
The tragedy will intensify the pressure on the Government to broker a deal with the French to finally stop the crossings.
Mr Johnson said: ‘My thoughts are with the loved ones of those who tragically lost their lives in the Channel today.
‘We have offered the French authorities every support as they investigate this terrible incident and will do all we can to crack down on the ruthless criminal gangs who prey on vulnerable people by facilitating these dangerous journeys.’
Seven migrants have died trying to cross the Channel this year – three more than last year’s toll.
The PM’s words were echoed by Home Secretary Priti Patel, who said: ‘We are in touch with our French counterparts who are leading on the response and have offered whatever support they need as they investigate this incident.
‘This tragic news highlights the dangers that come with crossing the Channel and I will do everything I can to stop callous criminals exploiting vulnerable people.’
Last October Miss Patel pledged that illegal Channel crossings would be an ‘infrequent phenomenon’ within six months.
But at least 7,500 migrants are known to have crossed to England by small boat so far this year – more than four times the total for the whole of 2019.
Miss Patel has been negotiating with the French government to step up patrols on their coastline but no deal has yet been reached.
She wants Paris to agree to migrant boats being turned around in the Channel and sent back to France.
Marlene Schiappa, deputy French interior minister, tweeted that the death toll from yesterday’s incident ‘is heavy and still uncertain’.
The migrants made a Mayday call in which they begged, ‘Help us, we’re sinking’, according to The Sun.
However, it is not clear who received the call, as the French coastguard said they were informed of the incident by the a passing pleasure boat, the Marbuzet.
Retired coastguard officer Andy Roberts said yesterday’s horrific incident was predictable.
‘It’s absolutely tragic,’ he added. ‘Something like this was always eventually going to happen and sadly it now has.
‘There is no way that boat was ever going to successfully cross the Dover strait.’
His words were echoed by Home Office Clandestine Channel Threat Commander Dan O’Mahoney, who said he was ‘deeply saddened’ to hear of the deaths and added there was ‘no way’ the boat was going to get across the Dover Strait.
He said the weather was ‘appalling’ at the time, with wind speeds of 42 knots (around 47mph).
Last night sources told The Sun: ‘The boat had not left French waters but the conditions were pretty tough.
‘The radio message came in at about the same time a yachtsman had reported seeing the vessel in difficulties.
‘It was incredibly fortunate the alarm was raised quickly enough for a rescue operation to be mounted.’
The police and fire brigade were called to the beach at Sangatte near Calais at around 8am after his body was spotted in an orange life jacket.
Despite an autopsy last week confirming he died of accidental drowning while trying to reach the UK from France, his identity has not yet been revealed.
He is being referred to as ‘BB’ within migrant aid groups until his next of kin have been informed.
The man, who is understood to be aged in his 20s and was discovered by horrified rescue workers near the town hall, was identified by a friend to the medical examiner’s office.
Both police and the coroner are satisfied he was Iranian despite being found with no documents with him.
Humanitarian organisation Seeking Sanctuary paid their respects on Saturday by laying flowers at a plaque in Dover, Kent dedicated to all migrants who have died.
An autopsy last Tuesday found the latest migrant to have lost their life while attempting the crossing died of accidental drowning.
French news website France Bleu said rescuers found 50 Euros on the body of the man.
It is believed he died within hours of trying to make the treacherous 21 mile crossing of the Dover Strait.
A post mortem will be held in due course while an investigation is underway into the death.
The victim was the second to die this year making the treacherous crossing.
Iranian Mitra Mehrad, 31, drowned after falling overboard while saving a baby’s life, according to a friend.
She was travelling on a small dinghy carrying 19 other migrants – including a child and a baby – when she went missing in horrendous conditions on August 9.
A huge air search and rescue operation was launched by British authorities after three people went overboard wearing life jackets off the Kent coast.
Ms Mehrad had jumped into the water in a bid to reach a rescue rope from another boat as the one they were travelling on began to sink.
The other two were quickly recovered, but Ms Mehrad could not be tracked.
Her body was found on Dutch waters on August 18, and she is believed to be the first person to have died while making the perilous crossing.
An Iraqi man also drowned after attempting to swim over using plastic bottles as a life jacket and wearing diver fins.
Two people also died last year.
A total of 7,565 migrants have now attempted to make the perilous crossing across the English channel this year compared to just 1,850 in 2019.
In September alone 1,954 made the crossing in small boats.
So far this month, 436 migrants have been detained.