Migrant, 28, who drowned trying to reach UK in toy dinghy ‘tried to clutch on but couldn’t make it’, friends reveal
A MIGRANT who drowned trying to reach the UK in a toy dinghy was seen desperately trying to clutch onto the sinking craft before being lost at sea, friends have said.
The desperate Sudanese refugee - who reportedly could not swim - has been identified by multiple sources as 28-year-old Abdulfatah Hamdallah.
Hamdallah set off for Dover in the middle of Tuesday night with a 16-year-old friend in the stolen 3ft dinghy using spades as oars.
When it sank, he was unable to make it to the shore although another friend did survive and was later taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia.
Gamr Alsha, 18, told how he set off alongside Hamdallah, also known as Wajdi, in much larger boat carrying eight people, reports the .
Both vessels got nearly a mile out to sea, but then the toy dinghy burst after being struck by one of the makeshift oars.
He said: "As they put the spade in a motion to sweep the water behind them, the edge of it cut into the dinghy.
"He tried to clutch on to the boat but he couldn't make it. We lost him quickly. The water was quite still, but it was dark."
Alsha added: "'At that point we didn't want to continue. We turned our own boat back to the beach to get help but the police and lifeguards could not find him.
"They used torches but he was gone."
"Before the boat sank he was happy, saying ''I want to arrive in England'."
His body was found seven hours later on a beach at Sangatte, near Calais.
Hamdallah is understood to have recently had his claim for asylum in France rejected by the authorities - and is said to have tried to reach the UK at least twice before.
Alsha said he is determined to still try and reach the UK and is undeterred by the death of his pal.
He said: "If I found a boat again or had a chance to get to the UK, I would. It's a bad life in France. It's my dream to get to the UK.
"In the UK I will find my life. Since I was small I wanted to go to England. In Sudan there are too many problems. W
"What else am I going to do? If I was back in Sudan I would be dead by now."
Those close to Hamdallah he headed to Europe looking to escape the “horror” of his former life.
Before setting off, he is said to have told a cousin in Calais that he might never see him again.
According to fellow migrants, he arrived in Calais around two months ago and had recently been living rough.
"His travelling companion was a teenager who survived," said Philippe Sabatier, the deputy prosecutor of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
The surviving 16-year-old had initially indicated that his dead companion was the same age, said Mr Sabatier.
A Sudanese driving licence showing a date of birth of 1992 was found on his body.
Hamdallah was originally from West Kordofan, a Sudanese state near war-torn Darfur.
He is understood to have fled his country in 2014 and then spent two years in Libya with his older brother before heading to France via Italy.
Hamdallah’s second cousin, Al-Noor Mohammed, joined him in the French port town of Calais less than two months ago.
He told the Guardian: “We grew up together in Sudan, and he only took this boat because of the French authorities who didn’t believe him.
“The last time I saw him was [on Tuesday] night. He was on a bicycle and told me that he may not be able to see me again.
"I didn’t believe him, but he said: ‘I will see you at the other side,’ which is the UK.”
His older brother - Al-Fatih Hamdallah - said they used to work together washing cars in Libya.
He said: “He wanted to have a better life from the horror we used to live in, but what happened has happened.”
One refugee who knew him in France said: "Abdul had been sleeping rough as the camps where he was living were regularly dismantled by the French.
"Recently he was living in a camp near the old Jungle refugee site. We are praying for him.
"Inshallah his soul should rest in heaven. He did not deserve to die like this. We will pray for him today and always."
Abdulfatah’s last words on his Facebook account were “on the palm of fate we walk, and don’t know what’s written”.
Following his death, hundreds of people left messages of condolence under the post.
It is thought the pair were trying to reach the UK to beat Storm Ellen that brought 70mph winds and torrential rain across the country.
Most read in News
Its believed other migrants had also made the treacherous journey through Tuesday night in order to beat the harsh conditions.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Furious British MPs have told the French to "get a grip" on the migrant crisis after French politicians suggested that the British hadn't got an "ounce of humanity" and the death was partly the Government's fault for failing to process asylum claims in France.
Home Secretary Priti Patel described the death of the Sudanese migrant as a "tragic loss" and a "brutal reminder" of people smugglers "who exploit vulnerable people".