HM Coastguard potentially breached its own policy by categorising 999 calls from distressed passengers on as many as four small boats carrying 155 people as not in need of urgent rescue, according to analysis of incident logs obtained by the Observer and Liberty Investigates.
This week the official UK investigation into the mass Channel drowning in November 2021 will finally publish its findings amid fresh claims that families of the victims have been sidelined from the process.
Maria Thomas of Duncan Lewis solicitors, representing a survivor and families of 18 people who died in the 24 November drownings, said the “extremely concerning” findings underlined the need for a full and independent statutory inquiry once this week’s MAIB report is published.
In 2021, downgrading to the less severe “alert” category, where immediate rescue becomes non-mandatory, was permitted once staff gathered enough information against a list of 15 criteria, including whether passengers asked for help, the vessel’s condition, and availability of lifejackets and fuel to complete the journey.
One incident identified by the documents began at around 7.30am on 20 November 2021 as a flurry of calls came in from a boat reportedly carrying 25 people, including women and babies, who were struggling with cold conditions after being at sea for five hours.
The logs also shed new light on an incident previously highlighted by Liberty Investigates, where a passenger known as Amjad claimed both UK and French call handlers refused to rescue him after he ran out of fuel near the maritime boundary at about 6am.
The original article contains 1,452 words, the summary contains 255 words. Saved 82%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
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HM Coastguard potentially breached its own policy by categorising 999 calls from distressed passengers on as many as four small boats carrying 155 people as not in need of urgent rescue, according to analysis of incident logs obtained by the Observer and Liberty Investigates.
This week the official UK investigation into the mass Channel drowning in November 2021 will finally publish its findings amid fresh claims that families of the victims have been sidelined from the process.
Maria Thomas of Duncan Lewis solicitors, representing a survivor and families of 18 people who died in the 24 November drownings, said the “extremely concerning” findings underlined the need for a full and independent statutory inquiry once this week’s MAIB report is published.
In 2021, downgrading to the less severe “alert” category, where immediate rescue becomes non-mandatory, was permitted once staff gathered enough information against a list of 15 criteria, including whether passengers asked for help, the vessel’s condition, and availability of lifejackets and fuel to complete the journey.
One incident identified by the documents began at around 7.30am on 20 November 2021 as a flurry of calls came in from a boat reportedly carrying 25 people, including women and babies, who were struggling with cold conditions after being at sea for five hours.
The logs also shed new light on an incident previously highlighted by Liberty Investigates, where a passenger known as Amjad claimed both UK and French call handlers refused to rescue him after he ran out of fuel near the maritime boundary at about 6am.
The original article contains 1,452 words, the summary contains 255 words. Saved 82%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!