Ibrahima Bah charged with facilitating attempted illegal entry into UK after incident this week
A teenager has been charged with people-smuggling after four people died while attempting to cross the Channel.
Ibrahima Bah, 19, of no fixed address, has been charged with facilitating attempted illegal entry into the UK after four people died and 39 were rescued when a boat capsized in the Channel this week, Kent police have said.
The force said in a statement: “The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised a charge against Ibrahima Bah of knowingly facilitating the attempted arrival in the United Kingdom of people he knew or had reasonable cause to believe were asylum-seekers.
“The 19-year-old, of no fixed address, was remanded in custody and will appear before Folkestone magistrates court on Monday 19 December.”
A major rescue operation off the Kent coast began at 2.16am on December 14 after reports of a boat in distress, with the Royal Navy, French navy, Coastguard, RNLI lifeboats, ambulance service and police involved.
The circumstances surrounding the deaths are being investigated by detectives from the Kent and Essex serious crime directorate, assisted by the National Crime Agency. Police are continuing to work to establish the identity of those who died and locate their next of kin.
