'Images will stay with me forever': Fishermen haunted by Channel migrant deaths

FRANCE 24 English

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00:00They went back to sea one day after the shipwreck.

00:03But for these fishermen from Boulogne-sur-Mer, this time their hearts weren't in it.

00:08They were among the first to intervene on Tuesday,

00:11trying desperately to help rescue immigrants in distress.

00:14But they arrived too late.

00:16This marine who pulled up three bodies on board is still in shock.

00:21I've been sailing for a long time.

00:24I've rescued a lot of people.

00:27But I've never had a day like yesterday when I saw corpses like that.

00:34The images will stay with me forever.

00:38Fisherman Axel Bajo witnessed the migrant boat for the first time.

00:43At least 60 people, crammed into a vessel with less than 10 life jackets.

00:48An almost daily occurrence in this part of the channel.

00:51An hour after spotting them, a radio alert warned that the boat had collapsed.

00:56The fishermen then set off to scout the area.

01:00There was only a small piece of the boat left, which was still inflated,

01:03and people were hanging on to it, which didn't last long.

01:06I thought everyone was alive, but when we got there and the helicopters started talking

01:10about a body in such and such a position, we thought, yeah, this is more serious than we thought.

01:17Rescuers managed to save 53 people, but 12 migrants died, including 10 women.

01:23It was the deadliest shipwreck in the channel for almost three years,

01:26and the crew were on the front line.

01:29It looks set to be a running theme, as more and more fishermen are being confronted

01:33with the sights of migrant crossings to England, despite the danger.

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