Channel tragedy: French authorities identify 26 victims

French authorities have formally identified 26 of the 27 bodies recovered after last month's mass drowning in the English Channel.

Sixteen Kurdish people from Iraq and four Afghans were among the victims, whose families are being informed.

They included two friends from the same town who died in the worst-recorded migrant tragedy in the Channel.

Their inflatable boat sank while attempting to cross to the UK from France on 24 November.

The BBC spoke to the families of Rezhwan Hassan, 18, and 27-year-old Afrasia Mohammed, who were both from the town of Rania, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Their families had not heard from the two men since the disaster, leaving them anxiously awaiting news. The two friends each paid people smugglers thousands of dollars to help them reach the UK.

At the end of October they flew into Belarus - an increasingly popular smuggling route - and crossed the border into the European Union before reaching France.



PUKmedia / BBC