A people smuggler who arranged a migrant Channel crossing that left a seven-year-old girl and four others dead has been tracked down and confronted over his alleged crimes.
Gang leader Rebwar Abas Zangana, known as ‘The Mountain’, was identified as being behind a boat launch in April which saw a schoolgirl called Sara suffocated beneath a crush of bodies in the inflatable off northern France.
Footage from the beach that night shows the moment more than 100 migrants, including Sara and her family, desperately tried to cram onto the tiny boat in the hope of reaching Britain.
Horrendously overcrowded, the vessel floated a few hundred metres off shore before beginning to capsize, with the ensuing panic causing a stampede which saw Sara trampled to death.
Apparently terrified of being arrested for his involvement in the disaster, The Mountain went on the run and was hiding in Luxembourg, where a team of BBC journalists found and unmasked the ruthless smuggler.
Footage of the moment The Mountain is challenged shows him squirming as he is presented with a picture of the little girl who died whilst he allegedly made money off her family.
Rebwar Abas Zangana, known as ‘The Mountain’, is confronted by BBC journalists over his alleged role in a deadly migrant boat disaster
Sara (pictured) died while trying to cross the Channel to Britain in April
‘These people are greedy. They care only about money. I hope they will face justice. All of them,’ Sara’s father Ahmed said of the depraved smugglers he blames for the tragedy. ‘My daughter’s death must not be in vain.’
British police detained two suspected smugglers following Sara’s death – but these men are believed to have been low-level operatives who may have even been working on the boat itself.
In an effort to track down the smuggling ring’s bosses, the BBC spoke to survivors of the April 23 tragedy.
Many who sought to get to Britain had only dealt with middlemen, paying them extortionate sums for the journey after meeting them at migrant camps.
But three migrants helped to identify the head of a gang which was operating out of Belgium, a man known as Jabal – Arabic for Mountain.
The team travelled to Antwerp where they found a middle man in a city barber shop.
Posing as a prospective customer who wanted to cross the Channel, an undercover reporter spoke to the intermediary, who agreed to put him in touch with The Mountain.
Almost two weeks later, the reporter received a call from the smuggler, asking: ‘So you want to get to Britain? How many seats do you need? Are you ready?’
Footage from the beach that night shows the moment more than 100 migrants, including Sara and her family, desperately tried to get on board the boat
The migrant boat was seen struggling a few hundred metres off shore before tragedy struck
Despite the numerous fatalities his scheme had resulted in, the team revealed that the brazen smuggler continues to run his shady operation – charging migrants more than £1,200 (€1,500) for the chance to get to Britain.
The Mountain reassured the reporter that the trip across the Channel was ‘a safe job’ and that he had improved his tactics since Sara’s death.
Hours later however, he fled Antwerp, with a source suggesting to the BBC that he feared arrest for his involvement the migrants’ deaths.
The BBC team traced him to his hiding place in Luxembourg, where they managed to stakeout his movements at a refugee and migrant reception centre.
The Mountain was tracked down by BBC journalists in Luxembourg, where he is said to have fled after leaving Antwerp
After a few days of monitoring him, they chased him down and confronted the crime boss as he made his way to a station.
They put their allegations to him, with the shocked smuggler responding ‘It’s not me, brother. I don’t know anything. What’s your problem?’
Despite his relatively calm, lowered voice, he looked anxious, and shook his head when asked about Sara’s death and whether he was responsible.
Sara (right) pictured with her father Ahmed
The team then rang his phone number, with his mobile going off, confirming that they had the right man – the same person who had offered to send their reporter in a dangerous dinghy over the Channel.
Despite the risks of the life-threatening journey, a record number of migrants – more than 12,900 – have crossed the Channel this year in a bid to reach Britain.
Sara’s father Ahmed has previously said he felt he had no choice but to try to make the journey with his family.
The Iraqi national, who spent 14 years in Europe after fleeing his homeland, revealed he had spent years applying for asylum in the EU, only to be rejected time and again.
Sara (right) with her brother Hussam, (left) and sister, Rahaf (centre)
He and his family were facing deportation back to Iraq, leaving them with only one option – to make a break across the Channel for British shores.
‘If people were in my place, what would they do? Those who (criticise me) haven’t suffered what I’ve suffered. This was my last option,’ he said.
Today, Sara’s surviving family – Ahmed, his wife Nour Al Saeed, and their two other children, 12-year-old Rahaf and nine-year-old Hussam – are living in a temporary hostel for migrants outside Lille, France.
The family have no right to remain in France past Autumn, the BBC reports, and dream of a ‘normal life’ and to be reunited with family members in England.
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