#04 FRANCE Green Velocity - Crash the Habit: Μικρές Ιστορίες #04

Παρακάτω παρατίθεται μία από τις 44 ιστοριούλες που απαρτίζουν τη συλλογή μαρτυριών από ατυχήματα σε στεριά, αέρα και θάλασσα 11 νεαρών ατόμων από διάφορα μέρη της Ευρώπης και του κόσμου.

ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ #04

Στοιχείο: ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ

by Kaly Ringot (French), EUROPEAN SOLIDARITY CORPS

ESAI EN ROI Volunteer

France

Channel accident

On the morning of September 12, 2024, an overcrowded inflatable boat left the coast of Ambleteuse in northern France. On board were nearly sixty people—men, women, and children—attempting to cross the English Channel in the hope of reaching the United Kingdom. The vessel was barely seaworthy: a flimsy rubber dinghy, packed beyond capacity, with very few life jackets and no reliable navigation system. It was one of dozens that had departed from the French coast that week, part of the ongoing flow of migrants risking everything for a chance at safety, work, or simply a future.

Barely minutes after leaving the estuary of the Slack River, the situation deteriorated. The sea was choppy that morning, with strong currents and wind gusts. The overloaded boat struggled to remain stable. Waves began to flood the vessel, and panic broke out among the passengers. Some slipped into the water. Others tried desperately to keep the boat afloat, throwing out bags, belongings, even shoes. But it was too late. The

dinghy capsized just a few hundred meters from shore.

Local fishermen were the first to notice something was wrong. They spotted people in the water, waving their arms, and debris floating among the waves. Emergency services were called immediately, and within minutes, rescue boats and helicopters were dispatched. They pulled dozens of people from the cold water, many of them shaking with hypothermia, others unconscious. Among the survivors were two children, clinging to a deflated plastic tube. But the scene quickly turned tragic.

Eight people died that morning. One of them was a ten-month-old baby, who died of cold despite being rescued. Another was a young man, no older than twenty, found face down in the water, his fingers still clenched. In total, six people were hospitalized, and the rest were brought ashore, dazed and silent.

The accident sent shockwaves through France and across Europe. Images circulated online: a collapsed boat, life jackets scattered along the beach, police officers kneeling beside bodies wrapped in thermal blankets. NGOs called it yet another predictable tragedy—a consequence of border policies that left people no other choice than to risk death at sea. Human rights organizations urged France and the UK to create safe and legal migration routes, insisting that these deaths were not isolated but part of a growing humanitarian disaster.

Politicians expressed their condolences. Some called for tougher security to prevent departures; others called for compassion. But nothing changed in the immediate aftermath. Within days, new boats set off from the same stretch of coast. And just three weeks later, another incident occurred off Calais, claiming more lives. For the families of those lost, the Ambleteuse shipwreck was more than a headline. It was a rupture, a void that can never be filled. And for those who survived, it became a story they would carry with them forever— a story of chaos, fear, salt, wind, and a silence that still echoes over the Channel each time the waves break on the shore.