Afghanistan, Sept. 8 -- The trial of 14 men accused of organizing the deadliest migrant crossing of the English Channel opened in Paris on Tuesday, nearly five years after a small overcrowded boat sank off the French coast, killing at least 31 migrants, including four Afghans. French prosecutors say the tragedy was preventable and was driven by transnational human trafficking networks.
The disaster occurred on November 24, 2021, when dozens of migrants left northern France in an inflatable boat bound for the United Kingdom. Authorities recovered the bodies of 27 people, while four others remain missing and are presumed dead, bringing the death toll to 31. Among the victims were four Afghan nationals, alongside migrants from Iraq, Ethiopia,...