Left Alive

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It has been almost a week since Mohamed Isa Omar was pulled from the freezing waters of the Channel, one of only Two People to survive the deadliest crossing On Record .

But as he sits in a wheelchair in a French Car Park , the 28-year-old is clearly still traumatised. He speaks softly, telling The Bbc he is haunted by what he saw That Night .

" I saw people dying in front of me, " Mohamed says. " Those of us who could not swim, drowned and died within minutes.

" It was so cold the water, so cold. "

Mohamed was among at least 29 people who set off from the coast of France at about 22:00 local time (21:00 GMT) a week ago. The Other occupants were strangers to Him - simply more people willing to risk the Dangerous Crossing over the Channel to reach the UK, A Journey made by More Than 25,000 migrants this year.

They had been travelling for about three-and-a-half hours when The Boat started to sink, Mohamed Said .

At this point, the occupants who still had phones began to make desperate calls for help. A fellow survivor told Kurdish media they had called both French and English sides of the Channel.

" Our mobiles were already in the water, " Mohamed recalls. " But one of us had his mobile still working, he called, and the [British] authorities told Him to send the location.

" But before he does that, the mobile went into the water too and we could not send anything. "

Mohamed heard a Second Man make a call via speakerphone, saying the person at The Other end spoke English.

" But he also didn't have any chance, " Mohamed told Bbc Persian . " The water got his mobile too before he sends anything.

" That's why people started to drown and die. I saw people dying in front of me, but I started to swim. I saw a big ship Far Away and started to swim towards it. "

It would be hours, though, until Mohamed was rescued. According to the only other survivor, an Iraqi Kurd named as Mohammed Shekha Ahmed, A Number of people tried to cling onto the deflated boat until The Sun rose.

" Then when The Light shone, No One could take it any more, " he told Iraq's Rudaw network.

Their bodies were spotted by a French fisherman at almost 13:00 on Wednesday. A rescue operation was launched, but the two men were the only ones Left Alive .

" That's why they found their way to us, took us to The Hospital , and we were saved, thanks be to Allah, " Mohamed Said . His legs are bandaged, recovering from injuries sustained during hours At Sea .

All of The Names of those who died are Not Yet known. Only one person has been officially named: Among The Missing are a - including a Little Girl who was just seven years old.

Both The Men who made the calls died, Mohamed Said . It is unclear who they reached when calling for help, or where they actually were.

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To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Media caption, Channel disaster: A father's anguish, a missing family

The remains of The Boat and its occupants were in French territorial waters when the Coastguard was asked for assistance.

A Home Office spokesperson said: " The French led a search and rescue operation for an incident that occurred in French territorial waters on Wednesday 24 November, where 27 people tragically died.

" As part of this operation, the French requested support from the UK, which was provided by HMG Coastguard as soon as it was requested. "

A Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesperson said that on that date, they received " More Than 90 alerts, including 999 emergency calls, from the English Channel , and we responded to all of them".

" HM Coastguard does not routinely enter French waters unless asked to assist with a response by our search and rescue partners in France, as we were last week, " the spokesperson told The Bbc .

" On that occasion, we sent HM Coastguard's helicopter from Lydd to support The Search and rescue effort and the RNLI lifeboat from Ramsgate also participated in The Search . "

Source of news: bbc.com