Boat death father tells how he lost daughter
A REFUGEE whose daughter died on board a boat in last week’s Channel tragedy has spoken of the moment he was unable to save her.
Ahmed Alhashimi, 41, told how his daughter Sara, seven, died when the vessel was overcrowded by a separate group of migrants. Five people died in the incident.
He said: “I could not protect her. I will never forgive myself. But the sea was the only choice I had.
He said a young Sudanese man had been part of a group that had crowded on board at the last moment, as it had drifted away from the shore. He added: “I just wanted him to move so I could pull my baby up.”
But the man ignored him and then threatened him, said Ahmed.
SUFFOCATE
He added: “That time was like death itself. We saw people dying.
“They didn’t care whom they were stepping on – a child, or someone’s head, young or old. People started to suffocate.”
Although Ahmed is an Iraqi, his daughter had never even visited the country. She was born in Belgium and had spent most of her life in Sweden.
He fled Iraq following threats from militia groups there.
It was only later, when French rescuers reached them out at sea and offloaded some of the more than 100 people crammed on the boat, that Ahmed was finally able to reach Sara’s body.
“I saw her head in the corner of the boat. She was all blue. She was dead when we pulled her out. She wasn’t breathing,” he explained, sobbing.
“I’ve spent 14 years in Europe and have been rejected,” said Ahmed, detailing failed attempts to secure EU residency.
“All I wanted was for my kids to go to school. I