Entire Family Drowned Trying to Cross Channel

The body of the final member of the family to be found was just identified
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 8, 2021 4:02 AM CDT
Entire Family Drowned Trying to Cross Channel for a New Life
Stock photo.   (Getty Images / AndrisBarbans)

The body of a 15-month-old who died crossing the Channel with his family in October has been positively identified. The boy, named Artin, was on a small fishing boat with his parents and two older siblings, en route to start a new life in the UK, when the Iranian Kurds drowned after high winds caused the vessel to sink. The other four members of his family, however, were pulled from the water right away. Artin's body was found on a shore in Norway months ago, but was just recently identified via DNA, the Guardian reports.

"I'm both happy and sad," the boy's aunt tells the BBC. "Happy that Artin's remains were eventually found, and sad that he left us for good." His remains will be flown to Iran for burial. The family was on an overloaded boat after having paid a smuggler for passage to the UK to start a new life; another 15 people who had been on the boat survived, but there may have been more passengers who remain unaccounted for as there were reportedly a total of 28 on board. (More Norway stories.)

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