13 sentenced in Paris over 2021 English Channel boat sinking that killed 31

Thirteen people have been sentenced to prison terms of up to 10 years in connection with the sinking of a boat in the English Channel nearly five years agoByALEX TURNBULL Associated Press and NICOLAS VAUX-MONTAGNY Associated PressSeptember 30, 2026, 12:07 PMPARIS -- Thirteen people were sentenced to prison terms of up to 10 years on Wednesday in connection with the sinking of a boat in the English Channel nearly five years ago, in one of the biggest tragedies of migrants making the dangerous crossing. A total of 31 migrants, most of whom were Iraqi Kurds, died in November 2021 when their boat sank. Fourteen people, including two who remain at large, had been on trial since Sept. 8. One of them was acquitted. They were accused of organizing the crossing of a small boat that was unfit for navigation on the open sea, was overloaded and lacked appropriate life jackets.Emmanuel Daoud, a lawyer for victims’ families, said that “when it costs the lives of 31 people and the sea becomes a cemetery, there is a price, and the court said that the price they had to pay was justice and prison time.”Meanwhile, an investigation into seven military personnel who have been indicted for failing to as...